A Deer Ran from Center City to the Ben Franklin Bridge and Was Killed

A deer went from Center City to the PATCO tracks on the Ben Franklin Bridge. Plus: A rough map of the deer's run.

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Early Wednesday morning, there were reports (okay, tweets) of a deer in Center City. This is the first report I can find of it, at 9:12 a.m.

It's a fucking deer running through center city — Khalil Smith (@lil___smith) April 30, 2014

Then there was confirmation.

https://twitter.com/carahackett/status/461500984292671488

Tried to snap a pic of the center city deer but he was running too fast. Probably trying to get away from the deer cops. — Tim Butterly (@timbutterly) April 30, 2014

Unfortunately, the tale of the Center City deer does not have a happy ending.

@wendyruderman There was a deer on the tracks, and it just ran onto the bridge amand was killed. Service should resume soon. — PATCO (@RidePATCO) April 30, 2014

You’ll note that this tweet is in reply to Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Wendy Ruderman. What a reporter: She breaks news on the Center City deer without even trying! Seriously, I’m in awe.

The deer was on the eastbound tracks on the Philadelphia side of the Delaware River. It ran from the tracks to the highway portion of the bridge and was hit by a car. PATCO’s Twitter account officially deemed the delay due to police activity.

Before going on the tracks, the deer actually traveled quite a long way. It’s been pieced together on Twitter.

By reports I've seen, the deer traveled 21st Point Breeze to 15th Ellsworth to 13th Sansom to 9th Market to Ben Franklin Bridge. — GilJohnsonActor (@GiljGilj) April 30, 2014

That seems long! I mapped a rough Philly deer run.

About three miles. Not quite Rocky’s run, but a decent final workout. I just ended it right before the bridge, as I’m not sure how the deer got onto the tracks.

The deer sighting GiljGilj tweeted about was “around 9 a.m.” By the time Gayle Christiansen and Jeremy Behrens tweeted about the deer on the PATCO tracks, it was 10:44 and 11:06.

Train service has now been restored on the PATCO High-Speed Line. Trains are running both ways every 15 minutes. Expect residual delays. RIP, Center City deer.