Suspect held after woman set on fire in subway car dies, police say

NEW YORK — Early Sunday morning, a man calmly approached a woman who was sitting motionless and possibly dozing on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and, without saying anything, lit the woman’s clothes on fire, engulfing her in deadly flames in seconds, the police said.

The man then watched from a bench on the subway platform as officers and a Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire.

The woman, who had not been identified as of Sunday night, was pronounced dead at the scene. Hours later, the man was taken into custody in connection with the fatal attack while riding another F train.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Sunday evening that police apprehended someone they 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.”

Tisch said officers who responded to the attack were patrolling the upper level of the station and went to investigate after they saw and smelled smoke just before 7:30 a.m.

Cameras on the subway car and body cameras on the responding officers caught images of the suspect during and after the attack, which they quickly circulated.

The man was taken into custody after three high schoolers called to report that they saw a man on an F train in Brooklyn who they believed appeared in photos shared by police and that were posted by the news media.

When an officer met the students, the officer saw the man riding the F train and still wearing the same clothes from the time of the attack.

The officer radioed ahead to stop the train and keep the doors closed, which allowed police to enter the subway car at Herald Square and take the man into custody, said Joseph Gulotta, the chief of transit for the Police Department.

The man was found with a lighter, Tisch said. The man, who was not publicly identified, emigrated from Guatemala to the United States in 2018, Gulotta said.

Additional details, such as what led to the attack, were not immediately known. Investigators do not believe the man and the woman knew each other.

White police tape-lined the platform closest to the train as police officers and workers in hazardous material-like suits surveyed the damaged subway car Sunday afternoon. Yellow tape also cordoned off each entrance to the platform.

David Johnson, 64, has slept in subways that turn around at the Coney Island station for about two years.

“The trains are getting more dangerous,” he said. While sleeping on a train in the station, he added, “I got hit in the head a couple of years back.”

The same thing that makes the Coney Island station attractive for sleeping makes it likewise for crime: “It’s way out of the way,” Johnson said.

As for why a woman was targeted, Johnson shook his head and said it made no sense. “They pick on the weaker,” he said.

The attack Sunday took place as subway safety has become a concern for riders and workers.

Also Sunday, at about 12:35 a.m., a person was killed and another injured in a stabbing on a southbound 7 train in Queens at the 61st Street-Woodside station, according to the NYPD. A 26-year-old man, who has not been identified publicly, was taken into custody, according to police.

Last month, 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, Gov. 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 on the subway.

Last year, overall crime in the transit system dropped nearly 3% compared with 2022 as the number of daily riders rose by 14%.

According to a Dec. 18 news release from the governor’s office, subway crime was down 42% since 2021 while ridership has increased 148%.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.