A man described as a person of interest in the search for a suspect who set a woman sleeping in a subway car on fire, killing her, was taken into custody Sunday, New York City police said.
"A person of interest is in custody," city transportation authority security chief Michael Kemper said at a news conference Sunday evening. The NYPD’s public information office said that charges are pending and that , once they are made public, the man's identity will be released.
"There must be strong, swift consequences on this person," Kemper said. "There is no room in civilized society for people like him to be walking around."
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at the news conference that a person was seen in the area just after the crime, sitting on a platform bench, and that an officer's body camera captured clear imagery of him that was made public via a wanted flier.
"Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform, just outside the train car, and the body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear, detailed look at the killer," she said.
Security camera video helped investigators zero in on the man in the body camera footage after he left the area, NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said.
"No one on the scene identified him as being there," Gulotta said, speaking about how a man later identified as a suspect was steps away as officers arrived and some bystanders got away from the flames.
"Our officers, when they responded, had no indication he was part of this incident," the chief said. "Nothing led us in that direction. Once again the cameras put us there, put us in that direction, and we were able to figure out he was involved in it later on."
Hours later, a person of interest in clothing that appeared to match the description of that suspect was spotted.
Three people described as "high school-age" riders made the discovery and called 911, Tisch said. Officers boarded the train, found the man and took him into custody, she said.
The woman, who was not publicly identified, was asleep on an idle F train at the Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn just before 7:30 a.m. Sunday, the police department said. It was there that a man approached her, lit her on fire and fled the subway, police said.
Tisch said the man "calmly walked up to the victim and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim's clothing."
Officers who were assigned to the area were one level up smelled the smoke and rushed to the scene, one remaining near the blaze with a suspect apparently also nearby, while other officers fetched fire extinguishers, police said at the news conference. Officers put out the flames, they said.
"I commend that one officer who stayed there," Gullota said when asked about it. "[He] made sure he kept the crime scene the way it's supposed to be, made sure he kept an eye on what was going on, so I think he did his job perfectly. His fellow officers went and got MTA workers, got fire extinguishers and eventually were able to extinguish the individual."
Emergency medical services declared the woman dead at the scene, police said, adding that the case is being investigated as a homicide.
The suspect was described as being 5 feet, 6 inches tall, 150 pounds and 25 to 30 years old. Body camera imagery 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, including paint-splattered pants or jeans.
City Council member Justin Brannan, who represents south Brooklyn, posted on X that he was anticipating an update in the “horrific immolation” at the subway station.
“Please keep the victim in your thoughts," he wrote.
