Caught on Camera: Melee at subway station
PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - SEPTA police say a group of teens got into an all-out brawl. A lot of the wild scene was caught on cell phone video. Police are now hoping the public can help them.
It was a chaotic scene after school Thursday that SEPTA's police chief says happens far too often.
"I have to tell you, this is becoming a daily event, throughout the city, either street corners or outside schools or on the SEPTA system," said SEPTA Police Chief Thomas Nestel.
And from Center City to Northeast Philadelphia, SEPTA passengers say they often don't feel safe when high school and middle schoolers are on board.
"When they get out of school, all the cursing, fighting, smoking on the bus, spitting everywhere. I have a 4-year-old son," said Sade Lisojo from Northeast Philadelphia.
SEPTA says this melee Thursday started as an icy snowball fight outside that escalated down to the subway mezzanine and into a brutal attack. The fights are sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneous, and usually only last a minute or two with most scattering before police arrive.
In Thursday's fight recorded by several people, more than 50 students looked on, as half a dozen of so students attacked others. Police are looking to make arrests.