The Upper Darby School District is providing counseling services to the school community after a 15-year-old student at Upper Darby High School was killed in a shooting on a SEPTA bus over the weekend. In a statement on Monday morning, officials with the Upper Darby School District noted that a student in the high school had been shot and killed in Philadelphia on Saturday, March 22, 2025. On Monday, Philadelphia police identified the boy as Zahkir Whitfield, 15, of Upper Darby. However, the district did not provide any further identifying information on the child and did not provide any further information on the deadly shooting. Instead, school officials said they had seen news reports “of what may or may not have occurred.” District assistant superintendent of student services for the Upper Darby School District, Edward Marshaleck, also asked “all involved” to be kept in “your thoughts and prayers.” Léelo en español aquí. On Monday, the district offered students and staff services from the district’s pupil services team, if they needed someone to talk to. The 15-year-old boy, a student at Upper Darby High School, was killed following a fight that happened at about 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 22, 2025, on a bus running the Route 15 trolley route near 40th Street and Girard Ave. At that time, police officials said, a shooting happened after a group of five or six young people were involved in a fight at the rear of the bus. There are additional resources for people or communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Further information can be found here. When the bus driver stopped the vehicle, several members involved in the altercation exited the bus through a back exit and, officials said, one of the people leaving turned to fire a single shot into the bus, striking the 15-year-old boy in the chest. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital, where officials said, he died a short time later. As of Monday morning, no arrests have been announced. An investigation into this incident was ongoing, officials said. As of Sunday, March 23, 2025, the Philadelphia Police Department has reported that 45 people have been killed in Philadelphia so far this year. At this point in the year, according to police statistics, them city has seen a 28% decrease in homicides compared with this same time last year. Police officials are asking anyone with information about this incident to contact the Philadelphia Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 215-686-3334. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case. Sign up for our Breaking newsletter to get the most urgent news stories in your inbox. ...read more read less