Deadly shootings at bus stops: Are America's buses under siege from gun violence?

Millions of Americans like Adam Garber and his 5-year-old daughter ride a bus to work and school. But nowadays, it's not just a regular weekday public transit commute.

Instead of worrying if they will arrive on time, they worry if they will make it safely on the bus - or come home alive.

"I feel like I have to be ready to grab her,” says Garber, 41, of Philadelphia. “I can’t enjoy her happiness, because I'm worried."

Across the U.S., headlines fuel that fear: In recent months, shootings on buses or at bus stops have led to deaths or serious injuries in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Seattle, Denver, Baltimore, San Francisco and New York City. While statistics are not kept on how many shootings happen in and around buses, one fact is certain: The shootings trigger national headlines and community worries.

Just last week, after eight high school students were shot at a Philadelphia bus stop, Garber said a wave of fear overtook him as he and his daughter rode together.

The buses in Philadelphia appeared emptier in the days after gunfire rang out around bus stops four times in four days, he said. People kept their heads down, and Garber remembered avoiding eye contact as he kept a close watch on his daughter.

“I keep my head down because some of the incidents are really driven by random interactions,” Garber said.

For most cities and regions across the U.S., buses are an integral part of daily life, transporting millions to work, school and home. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the nation's largest group of public transportation commuters - 46.3%, or 3.6 million people - use buses as their primary commuting mode.

Deadly shootings at bus stops and on buses leave indelible marks on communities. They are most often committed by angry people in the community and happen in poorer communities where more likely people rely on buses. The shootings also undermine confidence in public transportation and shine a light on bus safety and funding.

“Enough is enough,” Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker said after a 17-year old boy Dayemen Taylor was shot and killed at a bus stop down the street from his school. A local high school student was arrested in connection with the shooting, wrote Omar Crowder, the principal of Northeast High School in Philadelphia, in a letter to families.

Connor Descheemaker, a coalition manager for Transit Forward Philadelphia, said the shootings bring uneasiness to public transit in general.

"Our buses, trains, and trolleys are part of an ecosystem, connecting people to community and opportunity," Descheemaker said. "These shootings most recently connect to our underfunded public schools, at auto-centric intersections where cars with illegal plates were quickly able to enter and flee at high speeds. "

In one March week alone, a 17-year-old girl was shot and injured at a bus stop outside of a high school in Seattle. Two men were shot and killed in Kansas City, Missouri by a man who opened fire at a bus stop and inside of a bus. And a 19-year-old girl was shot in Queens, New York.

Fear of shootings weighs on public spirit

Garber, who serves as executive director of gun violence prevention advocacy group CeaseFirePA, said he has noticed people in Philadelphia engage with each other less than they used to when he first moved there in 2007, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You don't know who is carrying a firearm, and you don’t know what is going to trigger an attack,” he said. “So that fear and that concern has led to . . . a shift in how people interact in public spaces like buses.”

Philadelphia communities are reeling from a series of shootings on its bus routes. In one incident, a throng of frightened teenagers ran screaming for cover after gunfire broke out at a bus stop, injuring eight high schoolers. Witnesses recalled rushing to the children wounded by gunshots as they bled on the street.

Resident Dan Nagy told CBS Philadelphia he and his neighbor Peter Cooper helped several of the fleeing teens into his apartment building before running back to the bus stop to help the wounded.

"To see the kids running and screaming and bleeding, it was like a little mini war zone, but children," Cooper said. "And children that couldn't protect themselves."

A spike in gun sales without safety training during the pandemic has meant more firearms in people’s hands that can transform a disagreement into a deadly shootout, Garber said. While data on mass transit shootings is extremely limited, news reports show some of the deadly bus shootings have been tied to gang violence, and others stemmed from everyday disputes that drastically escalated.

In January, Denver police said a 13-year-old boy shot and killed a 60-year-old man on a city bus. Police said the incident began with an argument over the victim’s leg blocking the aisle. The boy was taken into custody and held for investigation of first-degree murder.

Sarah Burd-Sharps, senior director of research at Everytown for Gun Safety, said Americans have changed their way of life due to fear of gun violence in public places, from checking emergency exits in movie theaters to rethinking how to get to work.

A 2019 survey by the American Psychological Association found a third of U.S. adults said fear of mass shootings kept them from going to certain places and events.

"Americans in general are increasingly changing our everyday behavior due to fear of gun violence in public places," Burd-Sharps said.

Unique security challenges on buses

A push for lenient gun laws has also contributed to a rise in violence, Burd-Sharps said, noting Louisiana and South Carolina were the latest to pass permitless concealed carry laws this month. While companies often have rules against bringing weapons onto buses, there’s no detector or method of enforcing the rule.

Having guns on buses, where people can be irritable and are confined to a small area, was a “recipe for harm,” she said.

Buses and other forms of mass transit pose unique security challenges compared to open spaces, said Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium at the Rockefeller Institute of Government. 

“In a mall, if gun violence erupts, there are plenty of ways you can go to try to escape the situation,” Schildkraut said. “In a bus or train, that is more difficult as you are in a small, enclosed space with numerous people who would also be trying to flee, which can slow down the ability to do so.”

Open spaces such as schools also have more layers of security such as a visitor management system and double vestibule entry, she noted.

Gun violence at bus stops undermines trust in public transportation

"Americans who are lower-income, black or Hispanic, immigrants or under 50 are especially likely to use public transportation on a regular basis," the most recent Pew Research Center data shows.

The Institute for Policy Studies Climate Justice Project Director Basav Sen said gun violence at bus stops "is one further way in which our system of public transportation is uninviting to the public and it creates too many barriers for people to be able to ride it properly."

And the violence is most likely to affect people who can't afford cars or physically can't drive them, including those with disabilities.

Data from the American Public Transportation Association shows most transit riders are people aged 25 to 64. Seven percent of riders are 65 or older and 14% of riders are younger than 25. School bus access is declining, leaving students who have to take public transit to school vulnerable to the violent conditions.

City data on mass transit crime

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which operates mass transit systems in and around Philadelphia, reported a rise in aggravated assaults since the pandemic began, from 45 incidents in 2020 to 108 in 2023. Overall, crime on Philadelphia mass transit has remained relatively steady over the last four years, according to SEPTA.

In Chicago, transportation officials touted a drop in crime last year, though CBS 2 News reported some assaults remained elevated. While homicides and robberies dropped significantly on Chicago Transit Authority vehicles, aggravated assaults and aggravated batteries rose slightly. The two offenses have increased sharply over the previous eight years, according to CBS 2, from a combined 82 offenses in 2015 to 213 offenses in 2023.

On New York City transit, police data shows overall crime has risen every year since the pandemic, from 3,411 complaints in 2020 to nearly 5,000 complaints in 2023.

Transit workers assaulted every day, union says

Public fear of crime at bus stops and other waiting areas for public transit is on the rise. While many violent crimes are dropping back to pre-pandemic levels, transit officials say assaults on their operators remain at unprecedented heights. 

Amalgamated Transit Union international president John Costa said he hears of attacks against operators very day. While shootings are less common than other types of violent assaults, Costa said gun-related offenses are also on the rise.

“A bus driver’s job 30 years ago was a lot different and a lot safer than it is today,” Costa said.

The mass transit industry has faced challenges hiring operators in recent years, Costa said, as more people opt to switch to other jobs in the company such as janitorial work to avoid the assaults.

ATU government affairs director Jeff Rosenberg said while ridership for buses has largely bounced back, some routes have been emptier since the pandemic changed commuting patterns, leaving riders more isolated and potentially less safe. He also noted a shift in the feel on buses and trains, with an atmosphere of "lawlessness."

"It's not like it used to be," he said.

Rosenberg noted some of the incidents have been tied to fare disputes, as mass transit systems that used to be free before the pandemic now charge a ticket, angering some riders to the point of violence.

Dan Rodriguez, a spokesperson for Coach USA, said the company hadn’t faced instances of gun violence on its bus routes. 

“We have had incidents of other kinds of violence directed at our drivers and customers, but all were dealt with immediately by law enforcement,” Rodriguez said.

Greyhound did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment.

Community leaders advocate for preventative programs

After facing gunfire near Chicago bus stops five times as a teenager, Davosier Rutledge said he feels paranoia enshroud him every time he boards a bus.

“Questions and scenarios play out in my head,” he said, taking note of every person that comes on board.

As a former gang member, Rutledge, 24, said the trauma from street shootings continues to affect him. When he’s with his children, Rutledge said he never takes the bus out of fear for their safety. Even after leaving the gang, old memories of gunfire near stops stuck with him, but he continues to use the bus out of financial constraints.

While some elected officials have bolstered law enforcement presence in response to a wave of transit crime, advocates say policing is only part of the solution.

In Virginia, community leaders said neighborhood violence led to shootings near bus stops every day in late 2022. After several parents expressed fears about their children getting caught in the crossfire as they came home from school on the bus, a local nonprofit stepped in.

In November 2022, New Virginia Majority launched a program to curb gun violence at buses and bus stops while kids were returning from school in Young Terrace and Calvert Square, two neighborhoods in Norfolk, Virginia.

New Virginia Majority community organizer Javon Bennett said fights between warring groups in the neighborhoods had escalated to the point of shootings every day, and kids were caught in the crossfire as stray bullets shattered car windows and pelted storefronts. 

To deter the fights, volunteers from the communities go to the bus stop for a few hours in the morning and evening during the school commute times and keep an eye on the kids as they walk back home. Since the program launched, Bennett noted there have been no shootings at the bus stops during the children’s commute times.

Contact Kayla Jimenez at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @kaylajjimenez.