A “person of interest” was taken into custody Sunday in connection to the death of a woman who was set on fire on a New York City subway train, authorities said.
According to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the suspect and the victim were riding an F train headed toward the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn at around 7:30 a.m. local time. As the train car pulled into the station, the suspect approached the victim and intentionally set her on fire before fleeing the scene, Tisch said.
The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was taken into custody just hours after the attack while riding another F train, according to NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta.
“Initially, we intended to use this press conference to ask for the public’s help in identifying and locating someone who we believe carried out one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being, and it took the life of an innocent New Yorker,” Tisch said during a news conference Sunday.
Police believe the suspect used a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which “became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said. Officers patrolling on an upper level of the subway station then smelled and saw smoke, and went to investigate, according to Tisch.
Responding officers discovered the victim inside the train car “fully engulfed in flames,” according to Tisch. Officers, along with a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee, were able to extinguish the fire but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The victim has not been identified, Gulotta said. Police are currently investigating the incident as a homicide.
‘A very clear, detailed look’
Tisch said surveillance cameras on the subway train and body cameras on the responding officers caught “a very clear, detailed look” of the suspect.
Footage showed the suspect “calmly” approaching the victim, who was at the end of the subway train, according to Tisch. Police initially believed the victim was sleeping at the time of the attack, but later said it was unclear whether she was asleep.
“To say if she’s asleep or not, we’re not 100% sure, but (it) appears that she’s motionless at that spot. There is no interaction between the two,” Gulotta said, noting that police don’t believe the two knew each other before the attack.
Following the incident, NYPD released images of the person of interest, who was believed to be a man between 25 to 30 years old, CBS New York reported. Police also described the man as 5 feet, 6 inches tall, and was seen wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt, grey wool hat, paint-splattered pants, and tan boots.
The suspect was taken into custody after three high school students called 911 to report that they saw a man “wearing the same gray hoodie, distinct wool hat, paint-splattered pants, and tan boots already on another moving train,” according to Tisch.
A transit officer responded to the report and saw the man riding the F train while wearing the same clothes seen at the time of the attack, Gulotta said. The officer then radioed ahead to have the subway train stopped, where police took the man into custody without further incident, according to Gulotta.
“The person of interest also was found with a lighter in his pocket,” Tisch added. Police did not immediately identify the suspect but said he had emigrated from Guatemala to the United States in 2018.
“I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help,” Tisch said. “They saw something, and they said something and they did something.”
New York City transit safety
About 4 million trips are taken each weekday on the city’s subway, where violent crime is relatively rare. As of November, there had been nine homicides reported on the subway in 2024, compared to five in the same period in 2023, according to police data.
Sunday’s incident comes just days after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, MTA CEO Janno Leiber, and law enforcement officials announced efforts to increase subway safety.
Earlier this year, the governor introduced a “five-point plan to utilize state resources” for subway safety in New York City. Hochul initially deployed 750 members of the state National Guard, and 250 state troopers and police officers from the MTA.
The plan was implemented after several high-profile incidents occurred on the city’s subway system, including a deadly shooting that broke out on an elevated train platform and a train conductor who was injured in a slashing attack.
Earlier this month, a jury acquitted Daniel Penny of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless former Michael Jackson impersonator, on the city’s subway. Neely had been shouting angrily at passengers on a subway train when Penny grabbed him from behind and restrained him in a chokehold for several minutes.
On Wednesday, Hochul said that an additional 250 National Guard members will be deployed to New York City to bolster safety. She also announced that the MTA installed over 15,000 security cameras to ensure every subway train has a camera.
“Earlier this year, I promised to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day, and today we are continuing our efforts by putting more National Guard members on the ground and installing security cameras on every car,” Hochul said in a statement Wednesday. “By working hand-in-hand with the MTA and New York City, we are deterring crime, making it safer for all riders and restoring public confidence in the system.”
Contributing: Reuters
