Police: Students Involved In 'Horrifying' Brawl At Subway Stop In Philadelphia
By Matt Rivers
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Authorities are investigating a SEPTA subway station beating.
Police say students were involved in the attack.
SEPTA police call the video "horrifying" and say despite the violence, it all could have been much worse.
A video from a SEPTA security camera rolling around 315 p.m. Tuesday at the Spring Garden subway stop along the Broad Street Line shows the brawl.
It starts calmly enough and then chaos.
One of the students swings at another and a full scale brawl erupts on the platform, with multiple groups of students fighting all over the area, as other people waiting for the train look on terrified.
It goes on for some time; a fight that police suspect was planned in advance by the teenagers involved.
Chief Thomas Nestel of SEPTA Police says, "It's an outrageous event. It's so dangerous it's not even funny. We have operating trains down there. There are passengers waiting for the train."
You can see how close one student came to being hit by a train, falling onto the tracks only to come back up, and moments later that same student can be seen stomping on another victim.
The teenagers involved are believed to be from nearby Ben Franklin High School. The Philadelphia School District is helping with the investigation.
Fernando Gallard says, "What we have seen is a brutal fight that could have ended up with the loss of life, really."
Despite how bad the video looks, no serious injuries were reported and no one filed any complaints with police.
Police arrive on the platform after the fight had already wrapped up, and the suspects had got on the train and got away.
Two of the victims have been identified in this case and SEPTA police say they will be interviewed soon.
From there, police say it's only a matter of time before the suspects who started the fight are arrested.