STORY: :: December 22, 2024
:: New York
:: A suspect is in custody after a woman was
set on fire and died on the New York subway
:: Jessica Tisch, Police Commissioner, New York City
“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. But at this hour, I am pleased to announce that a short time ago alert NYPD transit officers took a person of interest into custody.”
“It was just before 7:30 this morning when our person of interest and the victim were both riding an F train to the end of the line at Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn. As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who was in a seated position at the end of a subway car. The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds. Officers were on patrol on an upper level of that station, smelled and saw smoke and went to investigate. What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames. With the help of an MTA employee and a fire extinguisher, the flames were put out. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the victim was pronounced on the scene.”
:: Joseph Gulotta, Chief of Transit, New York City
“So we like I said, that’s going to be part investigation. She’s definitely there, she’s motionless. So 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. And when the incident happens, there is no interaction between them.
[Is there any reason to believe they knew each other from a prior incident?]
“We don’t believe they knew each other. No.”
The woman, who has not been identified, sat motionlessly aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn at about 7:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) when an unknown man approached her and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire, the New York Police Department said. Police said there was no interaction before the attack and they did not believe the two people knew each other.
The man got off the car as police officers on patrol in the station rushed to the blaze.
The officers used fire extinguishers to put out the fire and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency responders, police said.
Police arrested a suspect, who has not been publicly identified, as he rode the subway later on Sunday.
Police said they were still investigating the victim’s identity and the reason for the attack.
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.
