A man was arrested and charged in connection with a stabbing Friday on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The stabbing occurred on the LYNX Blue Line train, the same route where Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed in August.
Oscar Solarzano, 33, allegedly attacked the victim on Friday with a large knife, court documents state. The victim was taken to the hospital and was in critical but stable condition, the police said in a news release on Friday.
Online jail records show that he was charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, serious injury, carrying a concealed weapon, intoxicated and disruptive, and breaking/entering a motor vehicle.
At a hearing on Monday, Solarzano was denied bond and appointed a public defender. The Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Department of Homeland Security said Solarzano, from Honduras, has had previous run-ins with the law and was deported twice.
Charlotte Area Transit System’s Interim CEO Brent Cagle said in a statement that the incident began as a verbal altercation that “escalated to the point of a stabbing.”
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said in a news release that officers responded to the stabbing just before 5 p.m. Friday and apprehended Solarzano.
The victim, Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, told NBC affiliate WRAL of Raleigh that he saw Solarzano yelling at an older woman on the train. He said Solarzano handed his bike to another passenger and said, “I’m about to show you who I really am.”
Dobie said he intervened, telling Solarzano to leave everyone alone. Dobie alleges that Solarzano grabbed his hands and stabbed him as he tried to hold him back, WRAL reported.
Dobie told the news station that he passed out after he was stabbed. It’s not immediately clear if the victim is still at the hospital.
President Donald Trump addressed the violence in a post on his Truth Social.
“Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina,” he wrote. “What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!!”
Gov. Josh Stein said in a post on X that he was praying for the victim’s family.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said the stabbing “should have NEVER happened.”
“ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is not released back into North Carolina neighborhoods,” she said in a statement. “Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the county will honor the detainer since they have a history of not cooperating with ICE. Under President Trump, ICE is being unleashed to ensure public safety for all Americans. Make no mistake: We will not rest until every depraved criminal illegal alien is removed from our communities.”
Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Solarzano’s criminal history includes prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, and using a fake ID, according to a DHS news release. He’s also previously been convicted of robbery and illegal re-entry, DHS said.
In 2018, he was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge and was removed by the Trump administration in March of that year, the news release states.
“He was apprehended illegally crossing the border again in 2021 and was again removed,” according to DHS. “He entered the country illegally for a third time at an unknown date and location.”
The stabbing comes months after Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee, was killed in an Aug. 22 attack. She was on her way home from work when the suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., pulled a knife out of his pocket, unfolded it and struck Zarutska three times from behind, according to a federal criminal complaint.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment in October charging him with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death. The charge makes him eligible for the death penalty.
Cagle said that since the August attack, the rail system has “taken a proactive and robust approach to keep employees and passengers as safe as possible by deploying additional off-duty CMPD officers, private security personnel, new technology and safety reporting tools.”
“Violence has no place in our community, including on public transit,” he said.
