New YORK: A woman who appeared to be sleeping on a subway train in Brooklyn was set on fire on Sunday morning and shortly afterwards the New York Police Department (NYPD) announced they had taken a "person of interest” into custody.
The suspect was identified as a Guatemalan immigrant who came to the United States in 2018, NYPD Chief of the Transit Bureau Joseph Gulotta said at a press conference.
The man "calmly” approached the victim, who was in a seated position, and used what NYPD believes to be a lighter to light the woman’s clothing, which ignited "within a matter of seconds,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch told the press.
Emergency services were called and extinguished the flames, but the woman was declared dead at the scene. The suspect was seated at the station, Tisch said, unbeknownst to the police, but their body cameras had footage of him and that was released, via the media, to the public.
Three high school New Yorkers recognized the man and called the emergency line after which the suspect, who was found with a lighter in his pocket, was apprehended. (DPA)