:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2)/Man-set-on-fire-in-Times-Square-031625-1-aec239e8f140469bb3da130059277359.jpg?ssl=1 "Man Set on Fireplace in New York Metropolis’s Occasions Sq., Assault Fled: Police")
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A person set a person on hearth in New York Metropolis’s Occasions Sq., earlier than fleeing the scene. Now, a police investigation has been prompted to search for the “unidentified” attacker.
Shortly earlier than 4 a.m. native time on Sunday, March 16, the New York Police Division (NYPD) found a person, 45, set on hearth within the space of West forty first Avenue and seventh Avenue, a spokesperson for the division tells PEOPLE.
The world is close to the favored Occasions Sq. Tower within the coronary heart of midtown Manhattan.
The attacker allegedly “lit the sufferer on hearth earlier than fleeing to elements unknown,” the NYPD stated, including that the sufferer was then taken by ambulance to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Heart. He was listed in steady situation as of the afternoon, per the division.
“Based mostly on statements made by the sufferer, there may be motive to consider that the sufferer knew the perpetrator,” the NYPD stated. “There aren’t any arrests right now, and the investigation stays ongoing.”
Kyle Mazza/Anadolu by way of Getty
Footage shared by The New York Publish reveals the aftermath of the hearth, with the sufferer sitting behind an ambulance whereas an obvious companion of his spoke with authorities.
Sources instructed the outlet that the sufferer and the attacker spoke at a meals cart earlier than the hearth. In a while, the suspect was believed to have taken one thing off the meals cart and used it as an accelerant to set the person on hearth after the sufferer ducked right into a membership, per the Publish.
In accordance with the outlet, the sufferer ran roughly 100 toes whereas on hearth earlier than somebody used a hearth extinguisher on him.
As for the suspect, hearth marshals instructed the outlet that they fled north of Broadway. Sources added that safety digicam footage is being utilized in an try and establish the attacker.
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The most recent fire-related assault in New York Metropolis comes months after a 67-year-old man was found on hearth in Penn Station. The person sustained “burn accidents to each of his legs and higher physique” on Dec. 27, police stated.
Simply days previous to that incident, a person allegedly set an unidentified lady on hearth as she slept on a stationary subway practice on Dec. 22, earlier than sitting down and watching as she burned to dying, per authorities.
