UPDATE Jan. 17, 2024: Police confirmed Wednesday that 16-year-old shooting victim Tyshuan Welles died from his injuries on Jan. 16 after spending five days in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson Hospital. Police identified 18-year-old Quadir Humphrey and 16-year-old Zaire Wilson as suspects in the shooting. Both Humphrey and Zaire, who were apprehended by police following the shooting, are facing charges of aggravated assault and simple assault conspiracy and that those charges are now expected to be upgraded.
A 16-year-old boy was shot in the head while on the subway platform at SEPTA's 15th Street Station on Thursday night, police said.
The teen, whose name has not been released, was unresponsive when SEPTA police found him on the station's westbound platform to the Market-Frankford Line at 9:30 p.m. He was rushed to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and placed in critical condition. Police said the teen was not expected to survive, according to CBS Philadelphia.
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The suspected shooter – a 17-year-old boy – and another teen, also 16, were arrested as they fled the subway station in Center City shortly after the shooting. They have both been charged as adults with aggravated assault and other offenses, 6ABC reported.
Investigators said the 17-year-old opened fire on a group of juveniles, striking the 16-year-old. The shooting followed an interaction between the teens at the nearby Broad Street Line's City Hall Station, police said. That interaction was captured on surveillance video.
Following the shooting, police found a semi-automatic handgun wrapped in a jacket that suspected shooter had been wearing, Chief Inspector Scott Small told reporters.
The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.
For several hours, all Market-Frankford Line riders boarding trains between Fifth and 15th Street stations were forced to do so on the eastbound platforms.
The shooting came a week after a man was charged with involuntary manslaughter for his alleged part in an altercation that led to a man falling onto the tracks and being fatally struck by an El train at 34th Street Station in University City. In December, a suspect was arrested for stabbing a rider inside 69th Street Station on the Market-Frankford Line.