New York City police announced Sunday that a man listed as a person of interest in the search for the man suspected of fatally setting a woman on fire as she slept on a subway train was taken into custody.
“A person of interest is in custody,” Michael Kemper, security director for the city’s Department of Transportation, said at a news conference Sunday night. The NYPD’s public information office said charges are pending and the man’s identity will be released once the charges are made public.
“I’m sure there will be strong and immediate repercussions for this person,” Kemper said. “There is no room for people like him in civilized society.”
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference that a person was seen sitting on a platform bench at the scene immediately after the crime, and that the officer’s body camera captured a clear image of the person. He said it was announced in a wanted flyer.
“Unbeknownst to the responding officer, the suspect remained at the scene, sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the vehicle. The responding officer’s body-worn camera provided a very clear view of the scene. “The murderer was shown in detail,” she said.
NYPD Traffic Commissioner Joseph Gulotta said surveillance footage helped investigators locate the man seen in body camera footage after he left the area.
“No one at the scene recognized him as being there,” Gulotta said, adding that a man, later identified as the suspect, was seen as officers arrived and several bystanders fled the flames. , talked about how he was right next to her.
“Responding officers had no indication that he was involved in this incident,” the chief said. “There was nothing that led us in that direction. Again, the camera took us there and took us in that direction. And we realized later that he was involved in it. I was able to understand that.”
A few hours later, a person was found wearing clothing believed to match the suspect’s description.
Tisch said three riders, described as “high school students,” spotted the car and called 911. Officers boarded the train, found the man and took him into custody.
The woman, whose identity has not been released, was found asleep on an idle F train at Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn just before 7:30 a.m. Sunday, police said. Police said a man then approached her, lit her on fire and fled the subway.
Tisch said the man “calmly walked up to the victim and used what appeared to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing.”
Police said in a news conference that officers assigned to the area one floor above smelled smoke and rushed to the scene, with one person remaining near the fire and the suspect nearby. Apparently, other police officers went to retrieve a fire extinguisher. Police said they extinguished the fire.
Asked about this, Grota said, “I commend the officers for staying where they were.” “I think (he) did his job perfectly because he kept the crime scene as it should be and kept an eye on what was going on. His fellow officers called for MTA officers. “There was a fire.” They used a fire extinguisher and were eventually able to extinguish the person. ”
Police said emergency medical services pronounced the woman dead at the scene, adding that the incident was being investigated as a homicide.
The suspect is described as 5 feet 6 inches tall, 150 pounds, and between 25 and 30 years old. Body camera images showed him wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, jeans, a knit hat with a red band and brown boots.
Police said the person of interest had a lighter in his pocket and was wearing the same clothing as the suspect, including paint-splattered pants and jeans.
City Councilman Justin Brannan, who represents South Brooklyn, wrote on X that he was looking forward to updates on the “horrific self-immolation” at the subway station.
“Please keep the victims in your thoughts,” he wrote.
