A “person of interest” is in custody after a woman riding a New York City subway was intentionally set on fire and killed early Sunday morning, police said.

Police were able to take the suspect into custody when three high school-age New Yorkers called 911 to say they recognized the man in the images from surveillance and body cam video being sent out by the NYPD.

“Other transit officers responded to that 911 call and also spotted the man wearing the same gray hoodie, distinct wool hat, paint-splattered pants and tan boots already on another moving train,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a news conference.

Tisch added the person of interest was also found with a lighter in his pocket.

The suspect and the woman, who have not been identified, were riding the F train to the end of the line in Brooklyn around 7:30 a.m., Tisch said.

When the train came to a stop, Tisch said the man “calmly” walked up to the victim, who was sitting, and set her clothes on fire with what appeared to be a lighter.

The woman’s clothing “became engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said.

Officers on patrol at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station smelled and saw smoke and discovered “a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames,” Tisch said. After the fire was extinguished, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Video later showed the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform outside the train car.

Tisch described the incident as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”

After receiving the 911 call from the teenagers and spotting the suspect, officers were able to radio ahead to the next station and have more officials walk from car to car until the suspect was apprehended without incident, Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said.

Gulotta added the suspect arrived in the United States in 2018 from Guatemala. His legal status is not clear.

The investigation is ongoing.

Have a news tip? Contact Alexx Altman-Devilbiss at aaltman-devilbiss@sbgtv.com.