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 Sunday (Dec 22) morning, killing her.
The woman, who has not been identified, sat motionlessly aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn at about 7:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) when an unknown man approached her and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire, the New York Police Department said.
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The woman, who has not been identified, sat motionlessly aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn at about 7:30 a.m. (1230 GMT) when an unknown man approached her and used a lighter to set her clothing on fire, the New York Police Department said.
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NewsTranscript
00:00All right, hello everyone.
00:19Initially we intended to use this press conference to ask for the public's help in identifying
00:23and locating someone who we believe carried out one of the most depraved crimes one person
00:30could possibly commit against another human being, and it took the life of an innocent
00:36New Yorker.
00:37But at this hour, I am pleased to announce that a short time ago, alert NYPD transit
00:43officers took a person of interest into custody.
00:47It was just before 7.30 this morning when our person of interest and the victim were
00:52both riding an F train to the end of the line at Stilwell Avenue in Brooklyn.
00:58As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who
01:03was in a seated position at the end of a subway car.
01:06The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim's clothing, which became
01:12fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.
01:16Officers who were on patrol on an upper level of that station smelled and saw smoke and
01:22went to investigate.
01:24What they saw was a person standing inside the train car, fully engulfed in flames.
01:31With the help of an MTA employee and a fire extinguisher, the flames were put out.
01:36Unfortunately, it was too late and the victim was pronounced on the scene.
01:43Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was
01:49seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car.
01:54And the body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear, detailed look
01:59at the killer.
02:00All right, so, like I said, that's going to be part of the investigation.
02:04She's definitely there.
02:05She's motionless.
02:06So to say if she's asleep or not, we're not 100% sure, but it appears that she's motionless
02:09at that spot.
02:11There is no interaction between the two, and when the incident happens, there is no interaction
02:15between the two.
02:16Is there reason to believe they knew each other from a prior incident?
02:20We don't believe they knew each other, no.