Sleeping woman dies after being set on fire in New York subway, police say
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Police arrested a man they said set a woman on fire while she appeared to be asleep on a New York City subway train on Dec 22 morning, killing her.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – Police arrested a man they said set a woman on fire while she appeared to be asleep on a New York City subway train on Dec 22 morning, killing her.
Officers responded just before 7.30am to a report of a woman on fire in the middle car of a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station.
Emergency responders extinguished the fire, and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene, the police said.
“What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference.
A manhunt was underway for the man. The police arrested a suspect, who has not been publicly identified, as he rode the subway later on Dec 22.
They had said on Dec 22 afternoon that they were seeking a man described as 25 to 30 years old, who was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, a dark-coloured knit hat with a red band and brown boots.
The victim’s age and identity were not immediately released on Dec 22. Additional details, such as what led up to the attack, were not immediately known.
The police said they were still investigating the victim’s identity and the reason for the attack.
A police spokesperson said earlier on Dec 22 that the woman’s death appeared to be a homicide. The medical examiner’s office will determine the cause of death.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s chief security officer Michael Kemper said: “We have images of the perpetrator and are working closely with NYPD investigators to track him down and arrest him for this senseless and horrific crime.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said there was no service in either direction on the F train between Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue and either Church Avenue or Kings Highway as of Dec 22 afternoon.
The episode took place as subway safety has become a top concern for riders and workers.
In November, a morning shooting on the Upper West Side interrupted transit service after the assailant fled into a nearby subway station. Commuters had to take shelter on subway car floors, and trains were delayed citywide as police searched for the man, who was later arrested.
In February, transit workers stopped performing their duties during the morning commute after an overnight slashing attack injured a conductor on an A train.
The following week, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York announced that she would deploy 1,000 members of the State Police and National Guard to the transit system after a series of violent crimes took place on the subway.
In 2023, overall crime in the transit system dropped nearly 3 per cent compared with 2022, as the number of daily riders rose by 14 per cent.
According to a Dec 18 news release from the governor’s office, subway crime was down 42 per cent since 2021, while ridership has increased 148 per cent. NYTIMES, REUTERS
