Gunmen open fire on bus in Philly caught on video

[philip964]

Woman calls in hit from bus she's riding after a man on the bus threatens to call children's protective services about beating she gives child.
Two gunman show up and just start shooting. What more can I say.

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2011/0 ... septa-bus/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/video-g ... a-20110804" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[knotquiteawake]

Even a CHL holder on the bus would have been out of luck. The dirtbags were firing from outside the bus and also if somebody returned fire it would have escalated it to a full blown shootout. Its a really good thing the driver hot the heck out of there.

[Beiruty]

Man. Was that an Ak pulled from his pants!

[Keith B]

Baggy enough pants can hide anything. In the second video you see a bullet hole show up in the bus door. And, if you notice, the guys was shooting low, so luckily it probably wouldn't have hit anyone.

Still, this was a called in gang hit and they showed up in force. IMO the driver should have been more alert to the threat and hightailed it out of there much quicker.

[knotquiteawake]

IMO the driver should have been more alert to the threat and hightailed it out of there much quicker.

That was my thought as well. First shot goes off and the pedal is to the floor (assuming its safe to pull out, they aren't blocked in, there isn't an old lady crossing the street in front of him, ect...)

[Texas Dan Mosby]

Well, what do you expect?

Somalia is a dangerous place....er.....uh....that's in Philadelphia......

Nevermind.

[mamabearCali]

Philly is bleeding scary. We had to spend the night there once in our RV. Terrifying--would not do it again. My poor husband was on high alert the whole time. Even the police officers were scary. We were at the baseball field (my husband is an umpire) for about 45 min post game just trying to plot our way out of the city and suddenly there they were--now at least they did not show up with lights flashing and guns drawn, but they let us know in no uncertain terms that we were to shove off even if we did not know our way out of the city yet--did not offer to help us with that either. Prob not all philly cops are like that--but we had VA plates and were obviously just trying to map our way out, they could have given us pointers. I love cheese steaks, but I am not going back there unless I have to.

[Beiruty]

The Charges should be attempted murder, mass murder, number of the counts should be the number who were in the bus at that time.

If the lawyer says no assault happened because no on was hit let someone empty a 30 rd from an AK in his direction. Maybe if he is not hit, no aggravated assault charges should be filed. The shooter was just target practicing, no?

[Keith B]

The Charges should be attempted murder, mass murder, number of the counts should be the number who were in the bus at that time.

If the lawyer says no assault happened because no on was hit let someone empty a 30 rd from an AK in his direction. Maybe if he is not hit, no aggravated assault charges should be filed. The shooter was just target practicing, no?

'This is the AK-47 assault rifle, the preferred weapon of your enemy; and it makes a distinctive sound when fired at you, so remember it' - Clint Eastwood as Gunny Highway - Heartbreak Ridge

[thatguy]

You never know what some people are capable of. The report says there was no assault involved because no one was hit? Are you KIDDING?

[Dragonfighter]

You never know what some people are capable of. The report says there was no assault involved because no one was hit? Are you KIDDING?

One thing that has always bugged me about our system is that you can draw a LESSER charge for simply being incompetent.

[chasfm11]

Philly is bleeding scary. We had to spend the night there once in our RV. Terrifying--would not do it again. My poor husband was on high alert the whole time. Even the police officers were scary. We were at the baseball field (my husband is an umpire) for about 45 min post game just trying to plot our way out of the city and suddenly there they were--now at least they did not show up with lights flashing and guns drawn, but they let us know in no uncertain terms that we were to shove off even if we did not know our way out of the city yet--did not offer to help us with that either. Prob not all philly cops are like that--but we had VA plates and were obviously just trying to map our way out, they could have given us pointers. I love cheese steaks, but I am not going back there unless I have to.

How would you like to work all over downtown Phila. on 3rd shift? While it has been a long time ago now since I did it, not much has changed. Like many other of our major cities, police presence is not universal and gangs like the one that showed up at this bus are ever present in some areas. Also like this video demonstrates, you never know when you might "dis" someone with a gang relationship. I had to go into some really rough areas (say around Temple University) to service equipment and bought a $100 car so that I would blend in better.

Philly cops have always been a hit and miss proposition. There are some fine, dedicated officers but there were also some overbearing types that didn't get much restraint from HQ. I remember taking a service call one New Year's eve and being stopped (I was walking) by a couple of Philly's "finest" When I told them that I was on my way to fix equipment at police HQ in City Hall, their tone changed and I got a quick "have a nice night." I'll never understand why a guy with a small suitcase looking tool bag would have drawn police attention at that hour of the night. Fortunately for me, I didn't cover West Phila. I suspect the bus in the video was in that are.

The Phila DA's office has always been a hit or miss deal, too. They've picked some of the weirdest cases to try and let other stuff like the incident on this video go. I can remember yelling at the TV more than once when the ADAs came on in regards to specific cases.

[sugar land dave]

If there was an argument on the bus with that much animosity, the bus driver should have called for a police unit to meet the bus before the next stop.

[mamabearCali]

How would you like to work all over downtown Phila. on 3rd shift? While it has been a long time ago now since I did it, not much has changed. Like many other of our major cities, police presence is not universal and gangs like the one that showed up at this bus are ever present in some areas. Also like this video demonstrates, you never know when you might "dis" someone with a gang relationship. I had to go into some really rough areas (say around Temple University) to service equipment and bought a $100 car so that I would blend in better.

Philly cops have always been a hit and miss proposition. There are some fine, dedicated officers but there were also some overbearing types that didn't get much restraint from HQ. I remember taking a service call one New Year's eve and being stopped (I was walking) by a couple of Philly's "finest" When I told them that I was on my way to fix equipment at police HQ in City Hall, their tone changed and I got a quick "have a nice night." I'll never understand why a guy with a small suitcase looking tool bag would have drawn police attention at that hour of the night. Fortunately for me, I didn't cover West Phila. I suspect the bus in the video was in that are.

The Phila DA's office has always been a hit or miss deal, too. They've picked some of the weirdest cases to try and let other stuff like the incident on this video go. I can remember yelling at the TV more than once when the ADAs came on in regards to specific cases.

I would not like that at all. In fact I think I might work just about anywhere else. My primary beef with the police officer that afternoon was that we were freaked out enough about all that had gone on around us the previous night, the kids and I had hid inside the RV during the baseball game out of fear. All we wanted to do was to get out of philly, all he wanted us to do was to get out of that parking lot. Both could have been accomplished if he had not been power tripping and had just told us to to three blocks down and four blocks to the left and we would find the interstate. Instead we drove down a few block, got lost, and finally stopped at a supermarket where we could read our map and get out of there. (Garmin BTW is useless for RV's in philly if you want to keep the top of your RV intact). Not going to stay in philly again--nope nope nope.

[Middle Age Russ]

Sounds like Philadelphia needs a new slogan. Somehow "City of Brotherly Love" just doesn't seem to fit given this report and the subsequent stories from other forum members. Then again, I am not sure any city could afford to engage a marketing firm to generate a new "positive" slogan in the face of what has been reported.