8 wounded in Philadelphia shooting; one arrested

Eight people were shot "in broad daylight" Wednesday near a busy Philadelphia subway station, scattering pedestrians in fear, US authorities said.

Gunfire erupted about 2:50 pm near SEPTA's Olney Transportation Center, and one person was arrested, police from the Philadelphia Police Department's 35th District said.

The victims ranged in age from 17 to 71, police told NBC Philadelphia.

They included a girl, 17, wounded in the right arm; a man, 21, hit in the right leg; a man, 22, shot once in the back; a woman, 36, shot in the right thigh; a man, 48, grazed in the stomach; a man, 53, hit in the right leg; a man, 70, also shot in the right thigh; and a man, 71, shot once in the stomach and multiple times in both legs.

One suspect was captured and two firearms recovered, police said.

“Today’s mass shooting near the Olney Transportation Center, in broad daylight, is yet another tragic example of the vicious, outrageous and unacceptable gun violence epidemic that’s threatening the lives and safety of our fellow Philadelphians," Mayor Jim Kenney said in a statement.

“I am beyond sickened. I refuse to accept this emergency situation as normal. We must rise together with one clear and united moral voice against the evil act of violence. People have the right to travel between work and home, and around town, without the fear of being shot, and possibly killed, by reckless, indiscriminate gunfire."

Investigators want to know if Wednesday's violence is connected to gunfire that's erupted in recent days around the neighborhood.

"We're trying to determine ... who these folks are, who the intended victims were and if there's any connectivity to recent shootings in the area," Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw told reporters.

(NBC News)