Manhunt in Times Square, Suspect Sought After Setting Man Ablaze in Chilling Predawn Attack

Authorities are on the hunt for a suspect after a harrowing incident yesterday morning left a man severely burned in Times Square. According to the NYPD, at around 4 a.m., a 45-year-old man was set ablaze at the corner of 41st Street and 7th Avenue; police officers who were on duty for the New York City Half Marathon responded, extinguishing the flames with a fire extinguisher after sprinting down the block to assist the victim, as reported by PIX11 News.

The victim, whose name has not been released, is currently in critical condition with burns covering his head, neck, arms, and waist, yet is expected to survive, the assailant remains at large and the connections between the two individuals are being unraveled by the NYPD, who believe the suspect and the victim were likely acquainted, as the assault did not seem to be a random act of violence but rather one with a yet-to-be-understood motive, “It happened here, right at my corner, where I work, I am here every day. It got me scared,” Badiwu Abubakar, a local resident, told PIX11 News.

The search for the perpetrator is ongoing, with law enforcement scouring security footage from the area, police have shared that the victim and the attacker had an exchange near a food cart before the event, which has led to the theory that the accelerant used in the attack was obtained from the cart, the suspect was spotted fleeing north of Broadway, according to information from fire marshals, relayed by PEOPLE.

This incident adds to a worrying trend of fire-related assaults in the city with a 67-year-old man being set on fire at Penn Station in December, and mere days before that, a woman was fatally burned while sleeping on a subway train, the latter of which saw the perpetrator sit and watch as the victim burned to death. The victim of the most recent Times Square attack was able to walk to an ambulance, surrounded by police officers, as seen in a video obtained by PEOPLE.