NEW YORK – Police say a woman died Sunday morning after being set on fire while she slept on a New York City subway.
A person of interest in the Brooklyn attack was taken into custody later in the day, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at an early evening news conference.
Police have not yet been able to identify the victim.
Police say the person in question came to the U.S. from Guatemala in 2018. So far, no charges have been filed, but investigators are still questioning him and trying to determine a motive.
Watch: NYPD press conference on woman set on fire on Brooklyn subway
“I want you to know that this arrest was another arrest in what has become a series of joint efforts involving various crimes between law enforcement and the public we serve,” Tisch said. “In today’s case, we were able to obtain incredibly clear and detailed images of the suspect from the first incident. Then we asked the media to broadcast those images far and wide so we could use viewership as a force multiplier – and New Yorkers came through.”
Based on images obtained from security cameras on the train, police and the public got a very clear picture of the man they were looking for. Tisch credited three high school-age New Yorkers with seeing the person in question and calling 911, leading to his arrest.
The NYPD offered a $10,000 reward for information about the incident.
NYPD describes how the attack happened
The person in question was described as 6 feet tall, 150 pounds, approximately 25 to 30 years old, and was seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, gray wool hat, paint splattered pants and tan boots at the time of the attack.
Tisch said the man boarded an F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn around 7:30 a.m., approached the sleeping woman and then set her on fire with what is believed to be a lighter. completely engulfed within seconds.
Police said there appeared to be no interaction between the victim and her attacker before she was set on fire.
A New York City Police Department image of a man suspected of setting a woman on fire while she was sleeping on a subway train and killing her on December 22, 2024. /Credit: NYPD
Tisch said officers saw and smelled smoke nearby and immediately investigated and, with the help of an MTA employee, used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames. EMS arrived shortly afterwards and pronounced the woman dead on the train.
The person in question remained at the scene and was seen sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train carriage. He was later apprehended without incident on another train that had stopped at Herald Square, Tisch said.
The person in question was found with a lighter in his pocket, Tisch added.
“This is great work done by the public and police working together. Once again someone saw something, we got it out in countless ways through technology and we were able to quickly make an arrest for this nothing short of heinous crime that took place. in our subway system,” said NYPD Chief of Police Joseph Gulotta.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All conversations are treated confidentially.
Sen. Joe Manchin says he believes the Senate “won’t let the filibuster fall apart”
In Asheville, NC, gingerbread houses reflect a sense of community
The Story of Handel’s ‘Messiah’
