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New York police have arrested a suspect accused of setting a subway passenger on fire Sunday morning, according to police.

According to the NYPD, the suspect approached the victim in a train car around 7:30 a.m. and intentionally set it on fire before fleeing the scene.

According to NYPD Detective Jessica Tisch, the suspect and victim both rode an F train to the final stop at Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn.

Police believe the suspect used a lighter to set fire to the victim’s clothing, “which was completely consumed within seconds,” Tisch said.

Police officers conducting a routine patrol at the station encountered the burning victim in a subway car, NYPD Det. Austin Glickman told CNN.

Officers “smelled and saw smoke,” which prompted them to investigate and lead them to the subway car, where they discovered the victim was on fire, Tisch said.

According to the police, the officers extinguished the fire, the emergency services were on site and pronounced the woman dead.

“Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had remained at the scene, sitting on a bench on the platform directly in front of the train car, and the responding officers’ body-worn cameras provided a very clear, detailed view of the killer. said Tisch. She noted that the suspect appeared calm when he initially approached the victim.

Police initially assumed the victim was sleeping at the time of the attack. While it is now unclear whether the victim was sleeping, she was “motionless” when the attack began, police said Sunday. There was no interaction between the victim and suspect during the attack, and police said they did not believe they knew each other.

Video downloaded from the subway car showed the suspect lighting a blanket the victim was wearing and the fire spreading until the victim stood up amid the flames, CNN senior law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller said. in the “CNN Newsroom”.

According to Miller, the person who set the victim on fire appeared to retreat from the train car, sit on a bench at the station and watch as the victim stood and burned.

Body camera and surveillance images were key to the suspect’s arrest, officials said in a news conference Sunday afternoon. Police released body camera images to the public and three high school-aged New Yorkers recognized the suspect and called police, Tisch said.

Officers located and arrested the suspect without incident on another train in midtown Manhattan. Authorities said he was arrested about eight hours after the incident.

“Our officers in the Second District stopped this train in Herald Square and were able to keep the doors closed, escort the train and take this very dangerous individual into custody,” NYPD Traffic Services Chief Joseph Gulotta said at the press conference.

The 34th Street–Herald Square Station in bustling Midtown Manhattan is next to Macy’s department store, which was featured in the 1947 film The Miracle on 34th Street.

The suspect was found with a lighter in his pocket, the inspector said.

Police are investigating the incident as a homicide, Glickman said. According to authorities, the suspect has been under investigation at a Brooklyn precinct since Sunday evening.

The victim has not yet been identified, Gulotta said.

Crime Stoppers offered up to $10,000 for information about the suspect.

According to police, no other passengers or first responders were injured in the incident.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday praised the people who helped alert authorities to the suspect.

“This type of depraved behavior has no place on our subways and we are committed to ensuring swift justice is served for all victims of violent crime,” Adams said in a post on X.

At Sunday’s news conference, authorities noted the role of technology in quickly tracking down the suspect.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday measures to improve subway security ahead of the holidays by deploying an additional 250 National Guard members to New York City and ensuring that every subway car with Equipped with surveillance cameras.

According to Michael Kemper, chief security officer for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the “brutal murder” was filmed by one of these cameras.

“The key was to establish the identity using the body-worn cameras,” Felipe Rodriguez, a retired NYPD detective sergeant and associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said on “CNN Newsroom” Sunday.

According to Hochul’s office, crime has fallen 10% since the governor announced a subway security plan in May and 42% since January 2021, although a series of high-profile violent incidents in the subway system in recent years has some residents concerned have.

The city was under a “Code Blue” alert Saturday evening as additional resources and shelters were deployed to help those facing subfreezing temperatures, particularly homeless people who sometimes seek shelter in the subway during severe weather.

This is a developing story and will be updated.