A 26-YEAR-OLD woman is fighting for her life after a man doused her in gasoline and set her on fire on a commuter train.
Suspect Lawrence Reed faces a federal terrorism charge for the horrifying random attack carried out on the Chicago L-train on Monday night.
According to prosecutors, 20 minutes before the attack, the 50-year-old visited a gas station and filled a plastic bottle with gas which he then brought on board the train.
Surveillance footage shows the man believed to be Reed, randomly picking a target for the sick attack, approaching her from behind, and pouring gas over the woman’s head.
The woman, who had been “minding her own business,” desperately fought him off and tried to flee, but the man followed her, lighting the empty bottle and setting her on fire.
She is in a critical condition with emergency services reporting third-degree burns all over her body.
“Even as she was on the ground, trying to put herself out and is rolling on the ground, no one came to her aid until she was able to get off the train and to the platform,” said US Attorney Andrew Boutros.
She had been “almost fully engulfed in flames” and was “still on fire” when she was able to exit the train, the criminal complaint states.
Police officers were called to the CTA train platform at Clark and Lake Streets around 9:25 pm, where they found the woman “laying on her back with severe burns to her face and body”.
Officers located a partially melted bottle, a lighter, and a suspected flammable liquid from where she had been sitting.
They also found the burned remains of some of the victim’s clothing, the complaint states.
After the heinous attack, surveillance footage showed the suspect calmly exiting the train car and walking away.
Reed was arrested on Tuesday in the same clothes the suspect was wearing on the train, and had “fire-related injuries to his right hand,” the complaint alleges.
During his arrest, body-worn footage captured Reed yelling “burn b****” and “burn alive”
He has been charged with committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system, and if found guilty, he will likely get life behind bars.
“This horrific attack was not just a barbaric assault on an innocent woman riding a train, but an act of terrorism that strikes at the core of our American way of life,” Boutros said.
During a court appearance on Wednesday afternoon, Reed repeatedly shouted “I plead guilty” when entering the room, NBC News reported.
Reed declined counsel and will undergo a mental evaluation after his outbursts, which included breaking into song in the courtroom.
He is scheduled to return to court on Friday for a detention hearing.
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Reed has a criminal history spanning decades, with over 48 arrests since 1993, which include nine felony charges, according to a Fox News report.
However, he has only served two years for drug offenses and 30 days for driving while suspended.
In August, he was charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm after attacking a social worker at a hospital, but he was released by a judge with electronic monitoring conditions.
“Lawrence Reed had no business being on the streets, given that his violent criminal history and his pending criminal cases,” special agent in charge for the ATF’s Chicago Field Office Chris Amon said.
“We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and well-wishes as our daughter receives care for injuries sustained earlier this week,” the victim’s family have said in a statement.
“We are also grateful for the excellent care and support of the burn team at Stroger Hospital.
“We will not be providing updates at this time, and ask for her — and our — privacy as we focus our attention on her and her recovery.”
The horrifying attack is eerily similar to that of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed to death earlier this year in a random attack on a Charlotte commuter train.
