>>17731 (OP)The man accused of setting a woman on fire on a Chicago transit train this week has been charged with federal terrorism, according to a criminal complaint.
Lawrence Reed, 50, was charged with one count of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system Wednesday in the Northern District of Illinois.
The incident unfolded just before 9:30 p.m. Monday on a CTA blue line train.
Security video captured the moment a man whom authorities identified as Reed walked through the train car holding a bottle and approached the victim, a 26-year-old woman with her back toward him. He poured liquid over her head and tried to ignite it, according to the criminal complaint.
The woman fought him off and ran toward the front of the train as the man chased behind. The man ignited the bottle in his hand, dropped it and later picked it up and lit the victim on fire with the bottle, the complaint said. He then ran to the front of the train car and “stood watching” as “her body was engulfed in flames,” according to the filing.
The woman was “almost fully engulfed in flames” and tried to roll to put out the blaze, the complaint said.
The train stopped at the Clark and Lake Street station in The Loop in downtown Chicago, where the woman got off and collapsed and was tended to by people on the platform. The man also exited the train car and walked away from the scene, according to the complaint.
When police arrived, they found the victim on her back on the platform “with severe burns to her face and body,” the complaint said.
On the train car, investigators also found a partially melted bottle, a lighter, a clear "suspected ignitable liquid" from where the victim had been sitting and what appeared to be the victim's burned clothing, the complaint said.
Retracing the man’s steps, investigators found security video at a convenience store shortly after 9 p.m. Monday. That video showed he filled a small container with gasoline at a pump, then went to a blue line station nearby, according to the complaint.
Reed was arrested Tuesday morning, found wearing the same clothes as he wore during the train incident, authorities alleged. He was also found to have “fire related injuries to his right hand,” the complaint said.
While he was being transported to a detective division, Reed “made repeated spontaneous and unprompted utterances, specifically yelling ‘burn b
–’ and ‘burn alive b–,’” according to the filing.
Reed appeared Wednesday afternoon in federal court, where he repeatedly yelled “I plead guilty!” as soon as he entered the courtroom, according to NBC Chicago.
He declined counsel and started to sing so he wouldn’t hear the judge. The judge and the prosecutor agreed Reed will have a mental evaluation.
The family of the victim, who is being cared for at Stroger Hospital, said in a statement Thursday: “We would like to thank everyone for their prayers and well-wishes as our daughter receives care for injuries sustained earlier this week.”
“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 statement continued.