New York police have arrested a suspect accused of killing a female subway passenger by setting her on fire Sunday morning, according to police.
Around 7:30 a.m., the suspect approached the victim on a train car and intentionally set her on fire before fleeing the scene, according to the NYPD.
The suspect and the victim were both riding an F train to the end of the line at Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
Police believe the suspect used a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, “which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said.
Police officers conducting a routine patrol at the station encountered the victim on fire inside a subway car, NYPD Det. Austin Glickman told CNN.
Officials extinguished the fire, and EMS responded to the scene and pronounced the female dead, according to the police.
“Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car, and the body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear detailed look at the killer,” Tisch said. She noted the suspect appeared calm when he initially approached the victim.
Police initially believed the victim was sleeping at the time of the attack. While it’s now unclear whether the victim was asleep, she was “motionless” when the attack began, police said Sunday. There was no interaction between the victim and the suspect during the attack, and police said they don’t believe they knew one another.
Body camera and surveillance images were key to apprehending the suspect, officials said in a news conference Sunday afternoon. Police released body camera images to the public and three high school-age New Yorkers recognized the suspect and called the police, Tisch said.
Officers located and arrested the suspect on another train in midtown Manhattan, without incident. He was found with a lighter in his pocket, the commissioner said.
Police are investigating the incident as a homicide, Glickman said.
The victim has not yet been identified, NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said at the news conference.
Images of the suspect released to the public were key to the arrest, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. – NYPD
Crime Stoppers offered up to $10,000 for information about the suspect.
No other passengers or first responders were injured in the incident, police said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced efforts to bolster subway safety ahead of the holidays, deploying an additional 250 National Guard members to New York City and ensuring every subway car is outfitted with security cameras.
The “brutal murder” was captured by one of those cameras, according to Michael Kemper, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s chief security officer.
Hochul’s office says crime is down 10% since the governor announced a subway safety plan in May and 42% since January 2021, though a number of high-profile violent incidents in the subway system in recent years have left some residents uneasy.
The city was under a “Code Blue” alert Saturday night, when additional resources and shelter are deployed to help those vulnerable to freezing temperatures, especially homeless people, who sometimes seek shelter on the subway system during severe weather.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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