September 26, 2023
THOM CARROLL/for PhillyVoice
A man shot in the head was found at the wheel of a running car in South Philly's Graduate Hospital on Monday night, police say. The man, who was alive Tuesday morning, was discovered by SEPTA bus driver.
A SEPTA bus driver discovered a man who had been shot in the head inside a car in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood late Monday night.
The bus driver was attempting to pass an idle vehicle near 17th and South streets at 11: 30 p.m. and got out of the bus and approached the car to see why it had stopped, police said. The SEPTA employee found the man slumped over the steering wheel of his Toyota Prius with the engine still running.
The man was alive but unresponsive and "bleeding heavily" from a gunshot wound to the right side of his head, Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small told NBC Philadelphia. Investigators believe the shot was fired from inside the car. The wounded man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was in critical condition.
Surveillance video shows a man dressed in black exiting the Prius and fleeing on foot on South Street. No arrests have been made.
There have been 1,320 shootings in Philadelphia this year, 289 of which were fatal, according to the most recent city data. In the Graduate Hospital neighborhood, which includes blocks west of Broad Street, south of South Street and north of Washington Avenue, there has been one other shooting in 2023 — an 18 year-old man was killed near 17th and Christian streets in July.
