A 23-year-old man was shot multiple times on a SEPTA train platform underneath, Philadelphia’s City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, less than a mile from the presidential debate stage.
The Philadelphia Police Department told Newsweek that a man was shot multiple times in the leg shortly before 3:30 p.m. on the westbound platform at the 15th Street Station for the Market-Frankford Line in Center City. He was listed in stable condition nearby at Jefferson University Hospital.
Police arrested a 17-year-old after the shooting, which they said was sparked by a fight among a “small group.” The 23-year-old is also in police custody, the police spokesperson said.
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“The scene is secured, and a suspect has been taken into custody,” the spokesperson said. “A weapon was recovered.”
About two hours after the incident, SEPTA posted that “police activity was cleared.” Trolleys were previously bypassing the station in both directions.
MFL [L]: Police activity has cleared, and trains have resumed regular service along the line. 5th Street Station remains closed due to the Presidential debate. Expect residual delays while full operations are restored.
— SEPTA (@SEPTA) September 10, 2024
SEPTA had previously posted to its social media accounts that its service would be affected due to the security zone around the presidential debate site. With protests also planned near City Hall, city buses were being diverted, according to SEPTA.
Rte 38,44,48,17,33: Due to protest near City Hall, buses will divert to Chestnut Street between Broad and Front Streets until further notice.
— SEPTA (@SEPTA) September 10, 2024
The National Constitution Center SEPTA stop at 5th Street and Independence Hall Station is the closest station to the debate. It was already scheduled to be closed for the duration of the event.
The shooting came just hours before the first—and potentially only—presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, and was a reminder that, while crime has come down from its Covid-era peak, it remains a salient issue in the election.
Trump has doubled down on his favored campaign issues—immigration, inflation and crime—which Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan, told Newsweek said will likely be central to his strategy on the debate stage.
Trump often equates illegal immigration with crime, recently warning that removing migrants from the United States would be a “bloody story” if he’s reelected in November.
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Last week at the Economy Club of New York, Trump shared that he would promise “low crime” levels.
“I am promising low taxes, low regulations, low energy costs, low interest rates, secure borders, low, low, low crime,” Trump said. “My plan will rapidly defeat inflation, quickly bring down prices and reignite explosive economic growth.”
Following the recent school shooting in Georgia that left four dead, Trump, a victim of gun violence himself, posted to social media that “our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected.”
“These cherished children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and deranged monster,” Trump posted.
The Republican nominee has vowed to rescind gun regulations the President Joe Biden administration has initiated.
Harris also departed from her prepared remarks to address the Apalachee High School shooting last week.
“It is just outrageous that every day in the United States of America, parents have to send their children to school worried about whether or not their child will come home alive,” Harris said.
They are sitting in a classroom where they should be fulfilling their God-given potential, yet some part of their big, beautiful minds is worried about a shooter breaking through the door,” Harris said. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
She then recounted a personal experience from earlier this year, when she toured a school and spoke with students. Harris recalled asking how many of them had participated in active shooter drills. To her dismay, nearly every student raised their hand.
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Trump has regularly claimed that Harris, a former prosecutor, has been “soft” on crime.
Harris voted for the First Step Act, which reduced some prison sentences and allowed certain prisoners early releases, while she was senator in 2018. At the time, she said it was “a first step to right the wrongs.”
Trump’s administration approved the First Step Act in 2018.
She previously served as California attorney general and a district attorney in San Francisco. As a DA and then AG, Harris prosecuted homicide, burglary, robbery and sexual assault cases.
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