Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway

New York police arrested a man suspected of setting fire to a woman on the Brooklyn subway, who died in the incident, authorities said, calling it “one of the most depraved crimes” a person could commit.

The man “calmly walked up to the victim” on the F train in Brooklyn and set her on fire Sunday morning, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told a news conference.

“The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which was completely engulfed within seconds,” she said, adding that police rushed to the scene and the fire was put out with a fire extinguisher.

“Unfortunately it was too late and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.”

By reviewing footage from body cameras, police got a clear picture of the suspect as he “had stayed at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train car,” Tisch said.

After releasing his photo to the public, police received a tip from three high school students and arrested the suspect at a Manhattan station.

“I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help. They saw something, they said something and they did something,” Tisch said.

Neither the suspect nor the victim was identified, although the NYPD’s Joseph Gulotta said “there was no interaction between the two when the incident occurred.”

“We don’t believe they knew each other,” he said during the press conference.

He added that the man immigrated from Guatemala to the United States in 2018.

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