Crime & Law
Chicago Man Who Allegedly Lit Woman on Fire on Blue Line Train Charged With Terrorist Attack
Surveillance footage allegedly showing Lawrence Reed holding a flaming bottle onboard a CTA Blue Line train on Nov. 17, 2025. (U.S. Attorney's Office)
The Chicago man accused of setting a woman on fire on a Blue Line train this week approached the victim without provocation and repeatedly yelled at officers “burn alive b--ch” as he was arrested a day later, according to federal prosecutors.
Lawrence Reed, 50, was charged in a federal complaint Wednesday with a terrorist attack on a mass transportation system, two days after he allegedly doused a woman with gasoline and ignited a blaze on board a CTA train. The charge carries with it a possible life sentence.
“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,” Andrew Boutros, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, said in a statement. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, together with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, will take immediate and resolute action to bring swift justice to the victim while safeguarding the public as well as the fabric of our society.”
According to the complaint, Reed was captured on surveillance footage sitting at the far back of a train car, several feet away from the victim as they both rode the Blue Line just before 9:30 p.m. Monday.
The victim was sitting with her back to Reed when he allegedly approached, took the cap off of a bottle he was holding and poured a liquid all over her head and body before attempting to ignite the substance.
The victim attempted to fight off Reed and ran to the front of the train, the complaint states, as Reed lit the bottle in his hand on fire and used it to set the woman ablaze.
According to the complaint, surveillance footage showed the woman’s body “engulfed in flames,” which she attempted to extinguish by rolling on the ground. When the train stopped at Clark and Lake, she was able to exit before collapsing on the platform as Reed allegedly walked away from the scene.
Chicago police said the woman was hospitalized following the attack. Prosecutors on Wednesday said she remains there with critical injuries.
Chicago police officers recovered a melted bottle, a lighter and a “clear suspected ignitable liquid” from a passenger seat where the victim had been seated, according to the complaint, along with what appeared to be some of the victim’s burned clothing.
The complaint states that investigators recovered additional surveillance footage that showed Reed filling a small container with gasoline at a Harrison Street Citgo station less than a half-hour before the attack.
Chicago police located and arrested Reed downtown around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. He appeared to be wearing the same clothes he was seen wearing during the attack and had “fire related injuries” to his hand, the complaint states.
Body-worn camera footage from the arresting officers allegedly captured Reed repeatedly yelling “burn b--ch” and “burn alive b--ch” after he was taken into custody, the complaint states.
Authorities said Reed has an extensive criminal past that includes setting a fire outside the Thompson Center in 2020.
Boutros noted the terrorism charge brought against Reed has rarely, if ever, been used by his office. He added that if the victim does die of her injuries, Reed could face a possible death sentence.
Reed is due in court for a detention hearing Friday.
