Woman in critical condition after being set on fire on Chicago train

A woman is in critical condition after she was set on fire in an unprovoked attack aboard a subway train in Chicago, according to officials. Authorities said passengers witnessed the attack but did not intervene. The suspect has been arrested and charged with a federal terrorism offense.

The assault occurred at around 9 p.m. on Monday on a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Blue Line train in the Loop, according to federal authorities. The victim was doused with a flammable liquid and ignited as the train approached the Clark and Lake station.

Federal prosecutors identified the victim as a 26-year-old woman who suffered severe burns and remains hospitalized in critical condition, according to U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros.

The suspect was identified as 50-year-old Chicago resident Lawrence Reed, who is charged with committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system, specifically the CTA.

“The victim was… minding her own business and reading her phone when the defendant doused her with gasoline and lit her on fire,” Boutros said. “She was literally sitting down.”

“I’ve seen reports that there was an altercation, or that there was some kind of disagreement or argument that took place. Those statements are inaccurate and false,” Boutros added. “She was on her phone.”

Boutros said other passengers moved away as the woman tried to extinguish the flames. “Even as she was on the ground trying to put herself out… desperately trying to put out the fire, no one came to her aid until she was able to get off the train and onto the platform.”

He said two Samaritans finally intervened on the platform and extinguished the flames as the woman collapsed.

Chris Hammond, special agent in charge of the ATF Chicago field division, said investigators believe the attack was deliberate and unprovoked. Evidence from the crime scene will be processed at the ATF national laboratory in Maryland.

The suspect has a lengthy criminal history in Cook County courts, including cases involving documented mental illness, according to court records cited by the Chicago Tribune.

Prosecutors said Reed is suspected in two arson attempts, including an incident at Chicago’s City Hall days before the Blue Line attack and a 2020 attempt to set the Thompson Center on fire.

“Lawrence Reed had no business being on the streets given that his violent criminal history and pending criminal cases,” Hammond said. “Reed had plenty of second chances by the criminal justice system, and as a result, we have an innocent victim in the hospital fighting for her life.”

The case has drawn comparisons to a fatal attack earlier this year on a light-rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, where 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death in what authorities described as an unprovoked assault in which passengers also did not intervene.

In that case, the suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., had a significant prior criminal record and documented mental health issues. The murder led to the passage of “Iryna’s Law” in North Carolina, tightening pre-trial release rules for violent offenders and expanding mandatory mental health evaluations.