Delco Man Charged In SEPTA Bus Shooting That Injured 3

PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware County man wanted for shooting into a SEPTA bus and hurting three women earlier this month was taken into custody by federal authorities after trying to flee, according to authorities.

Members of the U.S. Marshals Eastern Pennsylvania Violent Crimes Fugitive Task Force arrested Raphael Ezeamaka, 18, of Darby, on Wednesday at an apartment complex in the 400 block of Ramunno Drive in Middletown, Delaware.

Ezeamaka was wanted on three counts of attempted homicide in connection with an Oct. 8 shooting on a SEPTA Route G bus on the 700 block of South 57th Street, federal authorities said.

The shooting occurred at around 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 8 after Ezeamaka and two others got on the bus without paying at 19th Street and Oregon Avenue. They argued with the driver, but eventually went to the back of the bus and sat down, police said.

A few blocks later, the men got off the bus, turned around, and that's when Ezeamaka fired four shots into the bus, according to police.

Three women, ages 29, 56, and 60, were hurt in the shooting, authorities said. The 29-year-old was shot in her right buttocks, the 56-year-old's head was grazed by a bullet, and the 60-year-old was shot once in the lower back, according to authorities. The injuries were not determined to be serious, authorities said.

On Wednesday, investigators from the Marshals Fugitive Task Force in Philadelphia learned Ezeamaka was in an apartment in Middletown.

When they knocked on the door and announced themselves at the apartment, Ezeamaka tried to elude them via the apartment's the second-floor rear balcony, authorities said.

He was taken into custody in a back bedroom of the apartment without incident.

Ezeamaka is being held at the Howard Young Correctional Institution, where he awaits extradition to Philadelphia.

"The arrest of Ezeamaka should assure the citizens of Philadelphia that violent crime fugitives will be aggressively pursued no matter where they flee" Robert Clark, Supervisory Deputy Marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said.