Woman set on fire on Chicago train, person of interest in custody

A person of interest has been taken into custody by Chicago police after a 26-year-old woman was set on fire aboard a CTA Blue Line train on Monday night. 

Per the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago police said that the woman was on the train at around 9:25 pm when she began arguing with a man who was around 45 years of age. The man was said to have poured a liquid on her and ignited it. 

The man fled the train when it came to a stop at the Clark/Lake Blue Line subway station, while the woman fell through the doors to the ground. 

The fire had been put out before first responders arrived at the scene by bystanders. Michael Thomas, who had seen the woman on the ground at the train station, said he joined "a couple dozen people" around the woman. One woman was seen holding the hand of the victim, with Thomas recounting that the woman told the victim, "it’s going to be OK."

"She had severe burns all over her upper torso and half of her scalp was burnt off. She was lucid and conscious and talking. I believe I overheard something along the lines of, ‘I can’t believe I’m on fire,’" Thomas said. 

Thomas said of people who stood around recording, "That was a saddening sort of situation to witness. I don’t necessarily fault anybody. I think the idea of filming or taking pictures of someone in such a distressed state just shows a lack of compassion and a lack of empathy for the moment."

Police said that the woman had suffered "third-degree burns around the body." She was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. Dispatch said that CTA video surveillance reportedly captured a possible suspect, seen with "scruffy facial hair," leaving the train.

Thomas said, "I hope she pulls through. I hope for the very best for her."

CTA said in a statement, "The CTA has been working closely with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Public Transportation Unit detectives embedded at the Strategic Decision Support Center (SDSC) dedicated to CTA, to support their investigation and ensure the offender is quickly apprehended."

This comes after a Ukrainian woman who fled her home country because of the ongoing war against Russia was killed while on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail train in August. Iryna "Ira" Zarutska was stabbed by a person who sat down behind her as bystanders sat nearby. Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was arrested for first-degree murder in the stabbing.