PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A group of teen girls was caught on video Wednesday attacking a second group of teenagers on SEPTA's Broad Street Line, and four girls now face charges of ethnic intimidation and assault.
It happened on a train near Erie Station around 3:30 p.m.
Video shows a group of teenage girls repeatedly punching and screaming at another group of teens on the train. One of the attackers also punches, knocks over and repeatedly kicks a girl before slapping her with her shoe.
SEPTA Police Chief Tom Nestel said a young woman came off of the subway and reported to an officer that she and others had been assaulted on a SEPTA car coming southbound from Olney.
The girl was sent to Temple Hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries.
Officials said that following the report, they searched SEPTA cameras and found video of the incident. That led them to find two minor suspects allegedly involved in the attack. They had to be released until further investigation.
"We located other victims from Central High School. We had detectives go to the school where the two young women that we stopped attend and received information about the other two suspects, and a mother called when she saw her daughter as one of the people involved in the assault," said Nestel.
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Officials said that after further investigation, four African-American girls ranging in age from 13-16 are now facing charges for attacking three Asian teens and a girl, allegedly unprovoked.
"This was an attack based on ethnicity. Ethnic slurs were used by the attackers; hence why we are charging ethnic intimidation," said Nestel.
Councilmember David Oh said the police reports and video corroborate this as a racial animosity incident. He said he hopes that SEPTA will do more to protect riders, as there has been a trend of violent incidents involving the subway.
Councilmember Helen Gym also shared a message about the incident on Twitter, discussing it within the context of a greater trend of violence and trauma among youth.
Chief Nestel said they are starting an escort service where students at the school will be able to ride with an officer if they chose to do so for safety, and that they are working with the school district to provide victims resources and trauma treatment.
