Meat Cleaver Attack On SEPTA Bus Injures 1

PHILADELPHIA — One person is in custody and another recovering after a man attacked a fellow SEPTA bus passenger with a meat cleaver early Thursday.

Police said the attack happened at about 2:23 a.m. An officer was parked on the 400 block of North Broad Street when he was approached by a passerby who reported a man on a SEPTA bus was armed with a bladed weapon at Broad and Callowhill streets.

The officer found two men covered in blood and holding each other. One of the men was wielding a meat cleaver.

The officer instructed the man to drop the knife, which he did. Shortly thereafter, the officer learned that the man holding the knife was the victim, who had taken the weapon from the accused attacker.

Police said the suspect, 45, was taken into custody for further investigation. The victim, 61, was taken to Jefferson Hospital by Medic 13 and is in stable condition.

Police said before the attack, the suspect was shouting random things while possibly experiencing a mental health crisis on the bus.

Then at some point, he started hitting the man on the bus with the cleaver, injuring his head and hands, police said.

The victim is in stable condition at a hospital, and the suspect was taken into custody for treatment of a cut and a mental health evaluation, Fox 29 reports.

The suspect will likely face assault charges, according to reports.