A 26-year-old woman suffered severe burns Monday night after a stranger poured a flammable liquid on her and ignited it aboard a Chicago Transit Authority train near the Loop.
The attack happened at around 9:25 p.m. on the Blue Line near Clark and Lake Street when the woman got into a verbal argument with a man believed to be approximately 45 years old, police said in a statement to numerous media outlets. The confrontation escalated when the man poured an unknown liquid on the woman and set her on fire.
When the train came to a stop, the suspect fled the scene. The woman, engulfed in flames, got off the train and fell to the ground on the platform.
Bystanders moved quickly to put out the fire before emergency responders arrived at the scene. Michael Thomas, a 40-year-old witness, described the moment he arrived at the Clark/Lake station.
Thomas said he saw roughly two dozen people gathered around the woman. He said one woman remained at her side, holding her hand and offering reassurance—”It’s going to be OK”—while many others stood silently or filmed the scene on their phones.
“That was a saddening sort of situation to witness,” Thomas said of the onlookers. “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.”
Emergency responders took the woman to Stroger Hospital, where she was admitted in critical condition with severe burns covering her body.
Chicago police took a person of interest into custody on Tuesday in connection with the incident. No charges have been announced, and limited details about the person in custody were released.
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) said in a statement to multiple outlets that it is collaborating with the Chicago Police Department and detectives assigned to its Strategic Decision Support Center to support the ongoing investigation.
According to data on crime occurring at CTA locations, there have been three arson-related incidents in 2025 as of Nov. 16, representing a 50 percent increase from the same period last year, which saw two such events according to year-to-date (YTD) data.
Shooting on CTA property increased by 33 percent, from nine in 2024 YTD to 12 so far in 2025. Homicides have also seen an increase of 40 percent, jumping from five YTD in 2024 to seven so far in 2025. Robberies have seen a sharp decrease of 66 percent, dropping from 482 YTD in 2024 to 416 so far in 2025.
Representatives for the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Transit Authority did not respond to requests for comment from NTD prior to publication.
