A man wanted for firing shots at police was evading arrest during a chase in Philadelphia that ended in a collision with a school bus on the morning of Tuesday, November 24, 2015. Pennsylvania State Police stopped the vehicle for an expired registration sticker, asking the two occupants of the vehicle to step outside of the car. Both people complied with the officer’s request, but one of them hurriedly climbed back into the car and took off. After a brief pursuit on Interstate 676—during which time the car’s driver exchanged fire with police—the car smashed into a school bus.
The bus had no passengers on board at the time of the crash, and the bus driver managed to get out of the vehicle before it burst into flames. The car that caused the collision also caught fire, and both vehicles were extensively damaged from the flames. The driver of the car exited the vehicle and once again began shooting at police. During this time, Trooper Patrick Casey was shot by the suspect in the shoulder. He is expected to survive his injury and make a full recovery following treatment at Hahnemann University Hospital.
The Vine Street Expressway was closed to traffic in either direction between Interstate 95 and Interstate 76 while the suspect was being apprehended and the scene was being secured. Many witnesses expressed fear after seeing the school bus catch fire, but so far the only injury reported was that of Trooper Casey after being shot by the suspect. The suspect’s name has not been released. The suspect and the car’s other occupant were both arrested in the time following the fiery crash on I-676.
According to data published by the CDC, metropolitan areas like Philadelphia are at the highest risk of producing a fatal traffic accident, with 444 fatality crash deaths taking place on Philadelphia roadways in 2009. In a report released by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 369 school buses were said to have been involved in traffic accidents on state roadways in 2014.