Left: Zhontay Capers, according to Philadelphia police. Right: Bernard Gribbin, pictured on Facebook.
A Philadelphia woman who pulled a gun on a public bus and fatally shot its driver in broad daylight has been sentenced to prison.
Zhontay Capers, 24, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and five counts of recklessly endangering another person, among other charges, in the killing of 45-year-old Bernard Gribbin. Court records show she was sentenced to 33 1/2 to 67 years behind bars.
Gribbin had worked for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA, for 12 years.
Prosecutors said Gribbin had just pulled into a bus stop near Germantown and Abbottsford Avenues at about 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 26, 2023, when Capers opened fire. She struck him on his right side, exited the bus, then turned and fired again. Gribbin was transported to a hospital, where he later died.
Capers fled the scene and was arrested later.
“Bernard will never be forgotten,” Will Vera, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
SEPTA board chair Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. and general manager Scott A. Sauer said in a statement to the newspaper that the agency is working with state lawmakers to strengthen penalties for assaults against transit workers in response to Gribbin’s murder.
“Unfortunately, nothing can bring Bernard back to us. But in his memory, we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure the safety and security of the hardworking men and women who provide the public transit services that hundreds of thousands of our residents rely on every day,” they said.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner described the shooting as “inexcusable.”
“All Philadelphians have the right to feel safe on public transit, especially those working to provide these essential services to our city,” he wrote on X.
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Passengers scrambled to escape the bus, with some jumping through windows and emergency exits, witnesses told local Fox affiliate WTXF. No other passengers were injured.
Police have not identified a motive. Capers’ family told WTXF that she had been “experiencing a mental health crisis.”
“Her grandmother, who raised her, passed away a week ago due to a short battle with cancer,” the family said in a statement. “We knew that was her breaking point. Zhontay isolated herself from family during her paranoid state. Unfortunately, she didn’t meet the criteria for an involuntary hospitalization.”
The family said they had no contact with Capers until they learned about the shooting. They also said the mental health system had failed her.
“Our hope is that she gets the mental health support she truly needs once justice is served!” the statement concluded.
Gribbin’s relatives and co-workers later gathered for a balloon release in his honor. His colleagues remembered him as an excellent employee and a friend.
“We all come here just to take care of our families just like Bernard did,” Keith Bradford, the SEPTA Midvale District union representative, told local ABC affiliate WPVI. “None of us expect that when we put our uniform on in the morning that will be the last time we will come back.”
“We have to get a full bulletproof door or something,” Bradford said. “Bernard lost his life for what? He was doing his job.”
Bradford said Gribbin maintained a positive outlook, even during difficult times.
“Bernard would laugh at us, and tell us to keep our head up and keep our foot on the gas,” Bradford told the outlet.
