Federal Terror Charge Filed in Chicago Train Attack

A Chicago man is now facing a federal terrorism charge after a horrifying attack aboard a Blue Line L train in downtown Chicago on Monday. Prosecutors say 50-year-old Lawrence Reed doused a woman with gasoline and set her on fire in an assault that was caught on surveillance video.

Early reports suggested the incident stemmed from an argument, but investigators say the footage shows no such dispute. Instead, Reed is seen sitting at the back of the train car before getting up, approaching the woman from behind, pouring liquid on her, and attempting to ignite it, according to CBS News.

The victim managed to fend him off briefly and ran toward the front of the train, but Reed pursued her. During the chase he dropped the bottle, picked it back up, and then used it—now burning—to ignite the woman after she had moved to the opposite end of the car, an affidavit states. Reed allegedly watched as flames consumed her body.

The woman, engulfed in fire, attempted to roll on the train floor to extinguish the flames before stumbling out onto the platform at Clark/Lake station, where she collapsed. Passersby rushed in to help. “She was running off the train … completely engulfed in fire,” witness Christopher Flores told CBS News. “She’s on the ground crying, burnt to a crisp.”

The 26-year-old victim remains in critical condition with severe burns to her face and body.

Investigators say surveillance footage from earlier that day shows Reed filling a small container with gasoline at a Citgo station. He was arrested the following day, still wearing the same clothing and suffering from burns on his hand.

Authorities say Reed made several incriminating remarks after his arrest. The federal terrorism charge he now faces carries a potential life sentence, and prosecutors say he could face the death penalty if the victim does not survive. According to an ATF investigator, Reed carried out the attack “with the intent to cause death and serious bodily injury to one or more persons.”

During a court appearance Wednesday afternoon, Reed repeatedly shouted “I plead guilty!” and claimed to be a citizen of China, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.