New York City police have taken a man into custody they say is linked to the early morning death of a woman who was deliberately set on fire on a stationary subway train.
The incident occurred Sunday morning aboard an F train at the end of the line at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Sunday evening that surveillance footage showed the victim and her attacker were both on the train that morning. As the train pulled into the station, the attacker walked up to the woman, who was possibly sleeping, Tisch said, and used a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, according to authorities.
Officers on a routine patrol at the station smelled smoke and noticed a commotion on the platform, and shortly afterwards discovered the unknown woman standing on the subway.
After the fire was extinguished, medical responders pronounced the woman dead at the scene.
Tisch said detailed images of the attacker had facilitated the arrest of a person of interest. Transit police arrested the suspect after receiving a report from three high school students who recognized the man.
Police have not identified the arrested person. The victim had not yet been identified, authorities said.
The metro car was stationary at the end of the line at the time of the incidents. The doors are often left open for cleaning the train carriages or during a temporary break in service.
The case was the second fatal accident on a New York subway on Sunday.
At 12:35 p.m., police responded to an emergency call of an assault in progress at the 61st Street-Woodside Station in Queens and found a 37-year-old man with a stab wound to his torso and a 26-year-old man with multiple wounds. cuts through his entire body. The older man was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, while the younger man was in stable condition, police said.
An investigation continued.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul deployed members of the New York National Guard to the city’s subway system this year to help police randomly search passengers’ bags for weapons after a series of high-profile crimes on city trains . Hochul recently deployed additional members to help patrol during the holiday season.
