Overview
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy publicly identified the victim as 26-year-old Bethany MaGee, who remains in critical condition with extensive burns at Stroger Hospital’s burn unit.
- Federal prosecutors charged 50-year-old Lawrence Reed with committing violence against a mass transportation system, and a magistrate judge ordered him detained pending further proceedings.
- Charging documents say surveillance and photos show Reed bought gasoline about 20 minutes before the Nov. 17 Blue Line attack, then doused MaGee and ignited the liquid on the train.
- Court records show Reed was on court-ordered electronic monitoring from an August assault case and had recent curfew violations, fueling criticism of pretrial release and supervision decisions.
- Claims that Reed had 72 prior arrests were widely repeated by officials, though Chicago police records reported by some outlets list a lower in-state arrest count, highlighting discrepancies in totals.