A Chicago man with an extensive criminal record is now reportedly facing a federal terrorism charge after authorities say he carried out a violent, unprovoked attack on a woman riding a CTA Blue Line train Monday night — an episode federal prosecutors described as both “vicious” and “brutal.”
A 13-page federal complaint filed Wednesday charges 50-year-old Lawrence Reed with committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system, a federal offense that carries a potential life sentence. The attack occurred just before 9:30 p.m. as a northbound train approached the Clark and Lake station in the heart of Chicago’s Loop.
Andrew Boutros, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said the victim — a 26-year-old woman — was simply “minding her own business” and using her phone when Reed allegedly approached her. Federal authorities say Reed had been sitting at the far rear of the train car, while the woman sat in the middle with her back turned toward him.
According to the complaint, Reed stood up, walked through the car holding a bottle, and poured liquid onto the woman’s head and body before attempting to ignite it. The woman fought him off and ran toward the front of the train, but Reed gave chase. As she fled, Reed ignited the bottle, dropping it briefly before retrieving it and using it to set the woman on fire, prosecutors said.
Federal officials described a harrowing scene captured on surveillance footage. The woman, engulfed in flames, collapsed to the floor, desperately trying to smother the fire while panicked passengers moved aside or looked on. “The surveillance video is difficult to watch and is very disturbing,” Boutros said, noting that the woman was “set ablaze” as the train continued moving. When the train finally reached the platform and the victim was able to stumble off, two bystanders rushed forward and extinguished the flames.
The woman suffered severe burns to her face and body and remains hospitalized in critical condition. Christopher Amon, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Chicago Field Division, offered condolences: “Our prayers are with her, her family, and everyone who is affected by this unimaginable tragedy.”
Investigators quickly pieced together Reed’s movements leading up to the attack. According to the complaint, surveillance footage shows him filling a small container with gasoline at a Citgo station roughly 20 minutes beforehand while wearing the same clothes later seen in the train video.
Chicago police officers arrested Reed around 11:30 a.m. Monday in the 100 block of West Washington Street. By Wednesday, he had been transferred into federal custody to face the new terrorism charge.
The episode, unfolding on one of the city’s busiest transit lines, has fueled concerns about public safety on Chicago’s transportation system — concerns intensified by the fact that, according to prosecutors, the attack appears to have been entirely random.
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