A man is in critical condition after being shot at SEPTA station

A 44-year-old man is in critical condition after a fight turned into a shooting at SEPTA’s Olney station along the Broad Street Line.

The altercation erupted just after 10:45 a.m. Friday, when one man pulled out a gun and shot the other on the subway station’s stairwell, striking him three times in the back, according to a SEPTA spokesperson.

“It’s a very busy station so we are fortunate that there weren’t any more people injured,” SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said.

No bystanders were present, Busch said. But, police are looking for a third man involved in the fight who is believed to have fled the scene, Busch added.

The victim was transported to Albert Einstein Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition, according to police.

So far, one person is in custody and a weapon has been recovered.

The incident took place a little over two weeks after a 23-year-old was shot at 15th Street Station, following a confrontation among a small group.

“This is a very rare occurrence,” Busch said. “When we see an incident like this, it is typically a fight that escalates.”

For the first half of 2024, SEPTA had a 37% decrease in serious crimes on the transit system compared to the same period in 2023, according to SEPTA Transit Police Department data. The transportation authority has also been increasing enforcement for quality-of-life crimes.

Still, other shootings have occurred on SEPTA’s system. March saw four consecutive days in which someone was shot while riding, before entering, or just after leaving a SEPTA bus. One of those incidents left eight high school students wounded.

At the time, Councilmember Anthony Phillips said the transit system was not to blame. “This is not a SEPTA problem. It is a societal problem,” he said.