A routine ride home on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Red Line turned into a nightmare Monday night when a 26-year-old woman was doused with a liquid and set on fire during a heated argument with a man, police said.
According to the Chicago Police Department, the violent encounter happened around 9:25 p.m. as the northbound train approached the 47th Street station. Witnesses told investigators that the man, believed to be around 45 years old, began arguing with the woman in what initially seemed like a verbal dispute.
Moments later, witnesses said the man pulled out a container, poured a flammable liquid over the victim, and ignited it. “She just went up in flames,” said one passenger who asked not to be named. “People started screaming and running to the other side of the train. It was chaos.”
When the train stopped, the suspect fled into the night. Police confirmed that a “person of interest” has since been taken into custody but did not release further details.
The young woman managed to stumble off the train before collapsing on the platform. Passengers and bystanders used coats and water bottles to put out the flames before paramedics arrived.
“She was hyperventilating, shaking, and you could tell she was in shock,” witness Kevin Marshall told local station FOX 32. “Her skin looked badly burned. The medics moved fast, but she was in agony.”
Authorities say she sustained critical burns to her body and remains hospitalized at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
The attack has reignited concerns over crime and public safety on Chicago’s public transportation system. In recent months, the CTA has faced mounting criticism over a rise in violent incidents, including assaults, stabbings, and robberies on trains and platforms.
The Chicago Transit Authority released a statement Tuesday condemning the attack and pledging full cooperation with police. “Our thoughts are with the victim and her family,” the statement read. “This kind of senseless violence has no place on our system.”
But riders say they’ve heard it before. “You never see enough security,” said commuter Jasmine Reyes, who rides the Red Line daily. “We’ve been telling the city this for years. It shouldn’t take someone getting set on fire for them to act.”
Detectives are reviewing surveillance footage from the train and nearby stations in hopes of determining what sparked the argument and whether the suspect and victim knew each other.
Police Superintendent Larry Snelling called the incident “one of the most horrific acts of violence” the city has seen this year. “We will bring whoever is responsible to justice,” he said.
The suspect, who has not yet been charged, is currently being questioned by detectives.
As news of the attack spread online, many Chicagoans expressed outrage and disbelief. “This is beyond tragic,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “You can’t even ride home from work without fearing for your life.”
For now, one woman is fighting for survival — and a city already plagued by violence is left asking how something this brutal could happen on a public train full of people.
Source: Chicago Police Department; FOX 32 Chicago; CTA Press Office
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The solution is to cut police funding and replace them with therapists. I’m sure that this sort of thing can be avoided in the future if we can only reason with these troubled individuals.
Yup its a muslim past time..