A woman has died after being set on fire while sleeping on a New York City subway car.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at around 7.30 a.m. when the unidentified victim was asleep on board a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station.
According to the New York Police Department, an unknown male approached the woman and lit her on fire using a lighter before leaving the train.
New York City Crime Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters Sunday night that the man had committed “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”
The woman had become “fully engulfed in a matter of seconds” Tisch said, adding that officers had been alerted by smoke and extinguished the flames with the help of a MTA employee. Graphic footage of the incident circulated on social media appeared to show fire coming out of the car while horrified bystanders looked on.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. She was found with liquor bottles surrounding her, though it was not immediately clear if they played any part in the fire, sources told the New York Post.
An MTA worker told the outlet that it looked like the woman’s clothes were completely “burned off.”
The NYPD later released a photo of the suspect, who is described as a male between 25 and 30 years old, approximately five foot six, and weighs 150 pounds. He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, dark-colored knitted hat with a red stripe, and brown boots.
A man was taken into custody as a person of interest after police received a tip off from three New York high school students who recognized the description and called 911, Tisch said.
The suspect was confirmed to be on a moving train, which was stopped after police radioed ahead. The man was also found with a lighter in his pocket.
Little information was available about the suspect, and the identity of the victim was not released.
It was later discovered that the individual had not fled the scene after the incident but had stayed at the station and had been captured on police bodycam footage by one of the attending officers.
“I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help,” Tisch said. “They saw something, and they said something and they did something. This is another example of great technology and even greater, old fashioned police work with a huge assist from the public.”
