In a tragic incident on the New York City subway Sunday morning, a woman died after police say she was deliberately set on fire at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue terminus of the F train in Brooklyn.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said surveillance video showed the victim and suspect were in the same car. When the train arrived at the station, the man approached the woman, who was probably sleeping, and set her clothes on fire with a lighter or match. The flames instantly engulfed the victim.
In the F Train at Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, a demented man lit a sleeping woman on fire with a match, causing the victim to burn alive and die at the scene.
In New York, dangerous people are allowed to freely roam the subway. Yet the political establishment insists on… pic.twitter.com/cr2cblL0Rx
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) December 22, 2024
Police officers patrolling the station smelled smoke and noticed a commotion on the platform. In the subway car they found a woman completely engulfed in flames. After the fire was extinguished, emergency personnel pronounced her dead at the scene.
CCTV cameras played an important role in the capture of the suspect, which recorded the man with clear details of his appearance. Eyewitnesses and police body cameras helped locate him.
The suspect did not leave the crime scene: he was sitting on a platform bench not far from the carriage where the incident occurred. Three high school students recognized him and informed the police, which contributed to his arrest.
A video shot by an eyewitness appeared on social networks, showing a man in a gray hoodie sitting near a burning woman. Police have not yet identified the victim or suspect. According to preliminary data, they did not know each other. The incident shocked the city, and authorities are continuing their investigation to find out the motives for the attack and all the circumstances surrounding what happened.
Earlier, Cursor reported that Virginia resident Abdullah Az ad-Din Tahp Muhammad Hasan, who is suspected of preparing a terrorist attack against the Israeli consulate in New York, was detained in the United States. According to the investigation, he was exposed by undercover FBI agents.