A man suspected of shooting and killing two women in a Northwest Philadelphia rowhome where a fire broke out Monday morning remains barricaded aboard a SEPTA bus, according to the Philadelphia Police Department.
The barricade continues into Monday afternoon, with officers and a SWAT team having the Route 18 bus surrounded at the Fox Chase Bus Loop at Oxford Avenue and Loney Street, according to the transit agency. No operator or passengers are on the bus, and no injuries are reported, SEPTA said.
SWAT teams in standoff with armed man on SEPTA bus, suspected in killings of 2 women
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Police have made repeated attempts to contact the man by announcing over a PA system. Officers could be seen escorting a group of people who may be close to the suspect.
He has not been publicly identified.
Firefighters responded around 3:43 a.m. to the home in the area of Mt. Airy and Williams avenues in the city’s Cedarbrook neighborhood. As they responded to a call about the fire, firefighters came across the bodies of two women, police said in a statement. The fire was brought under control about half an hour later.
“I heard some sirens between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. this morning,” neighbor Norma Hart said. “I looked out the window, I figured, ‘Oh, it’s just a fire.’ I whispered a prayer, ‘Let my neighbors be OK.’ And I got back in bed. But it just went…the fire engines, the sirens, you just heard lots of everything.
“Then I started hearing thumps. You just hear thump, thump, thump. So I peeked out the window again, and I saw the smoke coming from the back of the house. And I knew it was serious then.”
There’s no word on what led up to the shooting.
“I’m devastated. And especially to learn that they were the type of neighbors who were adopting kids and raising…good, just good-natured people,” Hart said.
The police department said its officers declared a barricade situation on board the SEPTA bus around 5:49 a.m. Rider Haajah Robinson said she was aboard a different bus parked at the bus loop when she witnessed armed officers trying to remove a man from the bus.
“I was scared because they had their guns out, and I’m walking down the street not knowing what’s going on,” Robinson said.
The Route 18 bus connects the Cedarbrook and Fox Chase neighborhoods.
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Routes 18, 24 and 28 are being detoured around the Fox Chase loop, SEPTA said.
The Philadelphia Police Department and the Philadelphia Fire Department are investigating.
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