A person of interest was in custody on Wednesday after a 26-year-old woman was set on fire and left in critical condition while riding a Chicago L train in the city’s busy Loop area earlier this week, the authorities said.
The police did not name the person of interest, and said they were still investigating.
On Monday night around 9:25 p.m., a man poured a liquid on the woman while they were on the train and ignited it, causing her to catch fire, the Chicago Police Department said in a statement. The man fled when the train came to a stop at the Clark and Lake train station, while the woman exited the train and fell to the ground, the police said. She was severely burned and was in critical condition when she was transferred to a hospital on Monday, the police said.
The fire was extinguished before officers arrived, and no other injuries were reported. The police told The Chicago Sun-Times that the woman had been in an argument with a man, about 45 years old, before she was attacked. It was not clear whether the man and woman knew each other.
The police did not have an update on her condition on Wednesday morning.
Attacks on public transportation in the United States are relatively rare, but recent ones have raised concerns. A similar attack occurred in New York in December, when a man set on fire a woman who had been sleeping on the F train, killing her. In September, a brutal stabbing on the Charlotte, N.C., light rail killed a woman and drew criticism of local officials.
The Chicago Transit Authority said in a statement that it was working closely with the police department on the investigation into the attack this week.
There were about 1.04 million riders on Chicago Transit Authority buses and trains on weekdays in August, according to an agency report. On Oct. 9, the agency had its highest daily ridership since the pandemic, with 1.168 million rides.
Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics.
The post Arrest Made After Woman Is Set on Fire and Severely Burned on Chicago Train appeared first on New York Times.
