Midwest
Blue city suspect with numerous prior arrests federally charged after allegedly setting woman ablaze on train
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The suspect with a lengthy criminal history and who was released after being accused in a violent August attack, has been federally charged after allegedly lighting a young woman on fire Monday on the Chicago Blue Line train and yelling “burn b—-.”
Lawrence Reed, 50, is charged with committing a terrorist attack or violence against a mass transportation system, according to a recently filed criminal complaint.
Federal prosecutors allege Reed intentionally used gasoline and a lighter to set a woman on fire aboard a CTA Blue Line train at about 9:30 p.m. Monday.
A photo from train security footage showed the suspect allegedly following the woman to the back of the train car before lighting her on fire. (U.S. District Court documents)
AMERICA’S COMMUTERS UNDER SIEGE AS VIOLENT TRANSIT CRIMES ENDANGER BLUE CITIES
U.S. District Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew Boutros said the woman was “minding her own business and reading her phone” while seated in the middle of the train car, when Reed approached her from the back of the car, doused her head and body with gasoline, and attempted to ignite the liquid.
The woman ran to the back of the car, as he ignited the rest of the liquid in the bottle and then used it to light her on fire, according to the complaint.
Footage allegedly showed Reed watching the woman, engulfed in flames, as she tried to put out the fire by rolling on the floor.
Train footage shows the suspect allegedly coming up behind the woman and pouring the liquid on her head and body. (U.S. District Court documents)
Boutros said as the woman was rolling on the ground, desperately trying to put out the fire, no one came to her aid.
When the train stopped at Clark and Lake, the complaint noted the victim, who was still on fire, managed to exit before collapsing on the platform.
“When she finally stumbled down, two Samaritans came and put out the blaze that was all consuming her,” Boutros said.
Graphic video footage captured at the scene showed Chicago Fire and EMS workers attempting to load the woman into an ambulance.
She suffered severe burns to her face and body and remains in critical condition, according to authorities.
Train footage showed the suspect allegedly purchasing the items used in the attack from a nearby gas station. (U.S. District Court documents)
SEE IT: VIDEO SHOWS CHARLOTTE TRAIN STABBING SUSPECT BEFORE ATTACK AND MINUTES BEFORE ARREST
Prosecutors obtained photos showing Reed at a gas station about 20 minutes before the attack, where he was seen entering the store, paying the cashier and filling a small container with gasoline.
Other images showed Reed inside the train holding a flaming bottle as he approached the victim.
Reed allegedly exited the train after setting the woman on fire and walked away.
He was arrested Tuesday morning, still wearing the same clothing from the attack, and had burns on his right hand, according to the complaint.
Officers noted he repeatedly yelled “burn b—-” and “burn alive b—-,” while being taken to the detective division.
Investigators recovered a partially melted bottle, lighter and clear liquid from the victim’s train seat, along with the remains of some of her clothing.
Photos from the train show the moment the suspect allegedly doused the woman in gasoline. (U.S. District Court documents)
CHICAGO WOMAN SET ON FIRE DURING ARGUMENT ON CTA TRAIN, POLICE SAY
During Reed’s first appearance in federal court Wednesday, he allegedly shouted, “I plead guilty, I plead guilty, I plead guilty.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally asked him if he knew the maximum sentence was life in prison, to which he responded, “It’s cool, it’s cool, it’s cool.”
Following the hearing, ATF Special Agent in Charge Chris Amon commented on Reed’s “violent” criminal history and pending criminal cases, adding he “had no business being on the streets.”
Footage showed the suspect allegedly purchasing the items used in the attack from a nearby gas station. (U.S. District Court documents)
“Reed had plenty of second chances by the criminal justice system, and as a result, you have an innocent victim in the hospital fighting for her life,” Amon said. “Because of the swift action of CPD, ATF and our law enforcement partners, there will be no other chances for Mr. Reed.”
McNally suggested a mental and medical evaluation, though Boutros noted Reed had not been declared mentally incompetent in connection with any of his prior charges.
Lawrence Reed, 50, is charged with committing a terrorist attack or violence against a mass transportation system, according to officials. (Chicago Police Department)
Who is Chicago train attack suspect Lawrence Reed?
Records show Reed has a lengthy criminal history, including a charge of felony aggravated arson from April 2020, after he allegedly started a fire at the Thompson Center, where Gov. JB Pritzker was holding a daily COVID-19 briefing.
He also faced misdemeanor battery charges for punching multiple women in the face, seemingly at random, and slapping a 42-year-old man in the face at the Halsted CTA Blue Line platform, FOX 32 Chicago reported.
In August, Reed was charged with aggravated battery after allegedly assaulting a woman at a psychiatric hospital, CWB Chicago reported. Despite prosecutors’ request to keep him detained, he was released with an ankle monitor.
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Chicago Police Department records indicate Reed was arrested on at least 13 occasions by their agency alone since 2017. His charges included:
- May 19, 2017: Driving with a revoked license, obstruction of traffic by motorist, driving in reverse, operator signal, uninsured motor vehicle
- April 2, 2018: Soliciting unlawful business, making prohibited transactions, jaywalking
- June 19, 2018: Criminal trespass to real property, criminal damage to property
- July 13, 2018: Battery, possession of a controlled substance
- April 1, 2019: Driving with a revoked license, three counts of no turn signals, operating an uninsured motor vehicle
- Dec. 29, 2019: Criminal damage to government property
- Feb. 21, 2020: Battery
- Feb. 28, 2020: Two counts of battery
- April 23, 2020: Aggravated arson knowing there is a person(s) present
- Dec. 4, 2021: Simple assault
- Dec. 21, 2021: Battery with intent to cause bodily harm
- June 1, 2022: Battery making physical contact
- Jan. 20, 2024: Criminal damage to property.
Fox News’ Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Lansing — Jocelyn Benson, the front runner for the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor, said she believes her work in eight years as secretary of state will help convince voters to promote her this fall.
On Sunday, during a convention in Detroit, Democrats will pick a new secretary of state nominee. And on Thursday, Benson’s campaign for governor submitted about 30,000 petition signatures to get her name on the Aug. 4 primary ballot.
Amid those key moments in the 2026 election cycle, Benson, a former law school dean, sat down Thursday afternoon for an interview with The Detroit News about her time as secretary of state.
“I think that’s what people are looking for: A government that saves them time, saves them money and makes their life easier,” Benson contended. “I’ve done that as secretary of state, and I’ll do that as governor.”
The following interview was edited for length and clarity.
Question: You just dropped off your signatures this weekend. The Democrats are going to be gathering to nominate a new person for secretary of state. I was just looking over your campaign promises from 2017, do you feel like you hit them?
Benson: I had two goals when I came into office: wait times down and voter turnout up. And we did both, and I’m really proud of that.
When I started, we did a strategic planning session every January, and during our first strategic planning session in 2019, we filled the whiteboard on every wall in the office. And in our most recent one, the final one, we had just sort of one, just one little to-do list item left, which was really gratifying. Because we have not just increased turnout, but we’ve transformed our elections, eliminated gerrymandering, implemented the state’s first-ever citizens redistricting commission, which was no easy task, and then also implemented a number of new election procedures and options, educated voters about them and took Michigan’s elections from being ranked 31st in the country to No. 2.
We also did that while reducing those wait times (in Secretary of State offices), transforming our customer service experience. … Wait times are consistently 20 minutes or less, which was my No. 1 campaign goal.
Q: What were some of the strategies you used to get the wait times down for people?
A: No. 1, we listened to our employees, and No. 2, we collected data about what wasn’t working. You can’t fix what you can’t measure. And No. 3, we actually went around the country and looked at what states that actually had low wait times were doing. There weren’t many, but there were a few. Indiana and Illinois, had some interesting things that they did, and we took best practices that were working in other states and replicated them here.
But that first piece was key, listening to our employees. Early on in the process, we brought everyone in, all the branch office directors. I was expecting a daylong retreat where we would be discussing ideas, and I sat down with the director of branch office services. He had a whole PowerPoint presentation that went through everything we needed to do, from filling 900 vacant positions that were just vacant and not filled, to creating internally this opportunity for people to schedule the visit ahead of time.
We didn’t pay someone else to build that. That was built by our employees.
Q: When you ran in 2018, one of the big things you were talking about was election security. Do you feel like you’ve achieved that: improving election security? And what do you think about more people probably having faith in the results of elections then than they do now?
A: I am really proud of the fact that in this era of misinformation, we were able to protect our elections and ensure they remained secure.
While withstanding this unprecedented scrutiny and an unprecedented level of frivolous lawsuits, sham legislative hearings and falsehoods spread about our elections in the eye of the storm, we not only met the moment, but we built a better election system through it. That’s evidenced by the fact that we now have choices on how to vote in our state, we’ve modernized how you can register to vote and have increased the registration numbers we have.
Q: If one of these current candidates for secretary of state came to you and said, “I believe that the election is secure and everything is fine, but obviously there’s a lot of voters who don’t. How do we improve that?” What would you say to them?
A: Transparency is our friend.
Q: Just continue to open the process up as much as possible?
A: Well, the facts are on our side. The process is secure. So one of the most important things we need to do first is just continue to give people the tools that they need to get their questions answered and work with folks across the aisle, like we worked with Sen. Ed McBroom in 2021 to invite them into the process as well as answer questions that they have, while also, of course, maintaining any necessary confidence or security about the information that we’re providing.
But the through line is just transparency.
Q: What do you say to some of your opponents who will say, “Yeah, you decreased wait times. But what about the campaign finance website?” It’s not functioning, as they would hope it would.
A: Well, it’s certainly better than what we’ve had in the past. I think it’s important to remember that when I first ran for office, one of the things I heard most on the trail was actually, when are you going to get rid of MERTS (the former campaign finance disclosure system)?
Q: But that’s from people who are on the back end of it?
A: Right. Yeah. So I didn’t want to leave office without taking on that behemoth, knowing that it wasn’t going to be a smooth process, but it’s a necessary one if we were actually going to have a more transparent system, which I would argue also is something that the next secretary of state really needs to lean into more: getting money out of politics. I’ll be an ally for that as governor.
But when it comes to MITN and that process, one, what it really underscores is that I’m not afraid to take on big behemoths that others, frankly, past secretaries of state, refused to do, because it was too hard. And it does invite criticism. Whenever you try to transform a massive system that’s broken, yes, there are going to be hiccups along the way.
Q: Do you think voters are interested in that message: “I’ve improved these systems. I’m in government. I’ve succeeded in government. I can make it work.” Or are they looking for someone to just change everything?
A: People see a broken system that needs fixing, and they know I have transformed and fixed a system that every single one of our residents has interacted with. The other day, I was picking up food for my son and husband, and walking out with bags of food, and this gentleman in a pickup truck pulled up next to me in the parking lot and said, “Excuse me, are you the secretary of state?”
I was like, “I am.” And he said, “You know, I’m not political or anything. But I just was driving down this road the other day and realized when I passed the secretary of state’s office that it’s been years since I’ve had to go in there. Thank you for everything you’ve done to make that possible for me.” And I said, “Yeah, now imagine if all of government worked that well.”
Q: Do you think all three of the Democratic candidates running for secretary of state would be a good secretary of state? I know you’re not endorsing.
A: I’m committed to working with whoever comes through the convention and making sure they’re prepared to build on what we’ve done and achieve even more success.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Wild, who are the No. 3 seed in the Central Division. Wallstedt made 27 saves in his Stanley Cup Playoff debut, and Zuccarello had three assists.
“I was definitely nervous,” said Wallstedt, a rookie. “I think it shows that it means something to you. I like a little bit of nerves. I think it’s something good. There were definitely some nerves throughout the day and then a little bit extra rolling into the game. But after the national anthem was over and the first couple pucks started coming, you’re good.
“I wanted to play and I felt like I have been going good. I was a little surprised (to get the start). But I was very excited as soon as I got the news. I just wanted to make sure I was ready today.”
Jason Robertson scored, and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 2 seed in the Central.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think two power-play goals for them, two a little-bit bounces for them where we had guys in the right spot. Just even keel. Playoffs are like this. Sometimes you lose a game, you can feel like you’re done. But that’s the mentality you need to have, you’ve got to reset and learn from mistakes.
“First 30 minutes, we didn’t win enough battles. They were just that little bit stronger in the battles and that’s why they were able to make us defend more than we want to. Just got to be stronger.”
Game 2 is here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, ESPN, TVAS2, SN360).
“We prepped for a couple days coming into this one. Now, we will gather information from this game and continue to move forward,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “For me, it’s game to game and day to day. We want to continue to get better. We won and they [Dallas] lost. It’s not so much being satisfied where you’re at or that’s what it is. We need to continue to find ways to get better.”
Eriksson Ek gave the Wild a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period on the power play. He scored on a one-timer from the left hash marks to finish a tic-tac-toe passing play with Zuccarello and Boldy, who found an open Eriksson Ek with a pass from the goal line.
“I think every team in the playoffs talks about not getting too high or too low. Just enjoy every day and each game and then we will go from there,” Eriksson Ek said. “I think we played pretty good today. The next game is a new game, so we just have to do it over and over every game. We know they are probably not the happiest with that game, so I am sure it’s going to be hard next game.”
The Missouri Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at April 18, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from April 18 drawing
24-25-39-46-61, Powerball: 01, Power Play: 5
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 18 drawing
Midday: 5-8-2
Midday Wild: 3
Evening: 3-8-5
Evening Wild: 1
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 18 drawing
Midday: 0-1-6-1
Midday Wild: 2
Evening: 4-7-6-9
Evening Wild: 5
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from April 18 drawing
Early Bird: 08
Morning: 01
Matinee: 05
Prime Time: 04
Night Owl: 05
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Show Me Cash numbers from April 18 drawing
07-10-21-27-33
Check Show Me Cash payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from April 18 drawing
02-38-45-53-63, Powerball: 21
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
All Missouri Lottery retailers can redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners have the option to submit their claim by mail or in person at one of Missouri Lottery’s regional offices, by appointment only.
To claim by mail, complete a Missouri Lottery winner claim form, sign your winning ticket, and include a copy of your government-issued photo ID along with a completed IRS Form W-9. Ensure your name, address, telephone number and signature are on the back of your ticket. Claims should be mailed to:
Ticket Redemption
Missouri Lottery
P.O. Box 7777
Jefferson City, MO 65102-7777
For in-person claims, visit the Missouri Lottery Headquarters in Jefferson City or one of the regional offices in Kansas City, Springfield or St. Louis. Be sure to call ahead to verify hours and check if an appointment is required.
For additional instructions or to download the claim form, visit the Missouri Lottery prize claim page.
When are the Missouri Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
- Pick 4: 12:45 p.m. (Midday) and 8:59 p.m. (Evening) daily.
- Cash4Life: 8 p.m. daily.
- Cash Pop: 8 a.m. (Early Bird), 11 a.m. (Late Morning), 3 p.m. (Matinee), 7 p.m. (Prime Time) and 11 p.m. (Night Owl) daily.
- Show Me Cash: 8:59 p.m. daily.
- Lotto: 8:59 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
- Powerball Double Play: 9:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Missouri editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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