A horrifying incident unfolded in New York City on Sunday morning when a woman was set ablaze while sleeping on a subway car. The perpetrator, a stranger to the victim, ignited her clothes with a lighter, leading to her death. The suspect then nonchalantly exited the subway car and watched the gruesome scene from the platform, unnoticed by the responding police officers, according to law enforcement officials.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) held a press conference on Sunday evening, announcing that a suspect with no known connection to the victim had been apprehended. The arrest was made possible by a group of high school-aged New Yorkers who spotted the suspect on the subway later in the day and alerted the authorities. The NYPD had been actively searching for the suspect, releasing photos of him on the F train where the incident occurred around 7:30 a.m.
The suspect was apprehended on a moving train at Herald Square in midtown Manhattan, officials confirmed. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch provided further details, stating that both the suspect and the victim were on an F train heading towards Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn. The suspect approached the seated victim at the end of the subway car and used a lighter to set her clothes on fire, which quickly engulfed her.
Cell phone footage of the incident, captured by commuters and later obtained by the New York Post, showed the horrifying scene. Officers already present at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station responded to the smell of smoke and extinguished the fire. However, they were unable to save the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident was described as “heinous” and “senseless” by Tisch and other police and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials.
Tisch further explained that the suspect remained at the scene, seated on a bench on the platform outside the train car, unbeknownst to the responding officers. The body cameras worn by the officers were used to obtain clear images of the suspect, which were then shared online through NYPD Crime Stoppers and local media outlets. The MTA and NYPD collaborated to apprehend the suspect, MTA Security Chief Michael Kemper confirmed.
Kemper expressed his condolences to the victim’s family during the press conference on Sunday evening. He emphasized the need for the justice system to take swift action against the suspect, who he described as having committed a “brutal, brutal homicide.”
While the suspect’s identity has not been disclosed, the police were reportedly searching for an individual aged between 25 and 30. NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta stated that there was no known connection between the victim and the suspect. More information about the victim and the perpetrator will be released in the coming days as the investigation continues.