The New York City subway witnessed one of its most horrifying incidents on Sunday morning when a sleeping passenger was set on fire aboard an F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station. The attack, which NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch described as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit,” left the victim dead and stunned commuters and authorities alike.
A calm yet chilling attack
At 7:30 am, as the F train idled at the station, a man approached the victim—a woman seated quietly at the end of the subway car. Without hesitation, he used a lighter to ignite her clothing. “The suspect calmly walked up to the victim … and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch explained during a press conference.
Patrolling officers, drawn by the smell and sight of smoke, found the woman engulfed in flames. Though they quickly extinguished the fire, she succumbed to her injuries at the scene. Chilling video footage showed the suspect watching the horrifying spectacle unfold, his demeanor disturbingly detached.
A swift arrest
The suspect fled the scene but was soon apprehended, thanks to quick-thinking officers and observant citizens. He was found riding another train, still wearing the same gray hoodie and paint-splattered pants from the attack. Tisch credited the public for their role in the arrest, saying, “I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help. They saw something, and they said something, and they did something.”
The man, identified as a migrant from Guatemala, had previously entered the US in 2018 through Arizona. Authorities are still determining his immigration status. Police confirmed that he did not know the victim and had no prior criminal record in New York City.
Elon Musk’s fiery response
The brutal attack even caught the attention of Tesla and X owner Elon Musk, who took to his platform to express outrage. Responding to a post on X that read, “The man who set an innocent woman on fire on the New York Subway, Sebastian Zapeta, is a recent ‘MIGRANT’ from Guatemala. The Biden regime REFUSED to deport him, and an innocent woman lost her life as a result. MASS DEPORTATIONS NOW!” Musk commented, “Enough is enough.”
The tech billionaire’s statement has added fuel to an already heated debate about immigration policies and crime rates, with critics and supporters engaging in fiery exchanges online.
A shaken city
The crime scene became a somber spectacle for commuters and MTA workers. Around 1 pm, the woman’s charred body was removed from the train, leaving witnesses in shock. “It just looked like all the clothes were burnt off,” one MTA worker recounted. Another commuter, Alex Gureyev, lamented, “It’s scary … Everybody keeps saying it’s going back to the seventies. It’s a frequent occurrence—muggings, killings, fighting, shootings. Very bad.”
The attack has reignited concerns about subway safety. Governor Kathy Hochul had recently deployed 1,000 National Guard troops to patrol the subway system during the holiday rush, but crime continues to surge. Subway murders have risen by 60% this year, with eight people killed as of September, compared to five during the same period last year.
A city on edge
The heinous attack capped off a violent 24-hour period on the subway. Earlier that day, separate incidents included a deadly stabbing during an argument on a Queens-bound 7 train and an assault on a conductor on a northbound D train.