In Charlotte, North Carolina, a recent survey reveals that two-thirds of locals feel less secure now compared to a year ago, a sentiment amplified by two recent violent incidents on the city’s train system.
Over 930 participants contributed to the survey conducted prior to the appointment of the new police chief, Stella Patterson. The findings showed a strong preference for a proactive policing strategy, with 66% of respondents expressing increased concerns about their safety.
This heightened unease arises as Charlotte faces yet another stabbing incident on its light rail, following the previous attack on Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
On Friday, officers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) were called to the scene of an assault involving a deadly weapon. Upon arrival, they discovered Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie suffering from a stab wound, as detailed in the warrants.
Oscar Solarzano, a 33-year-old from Honduras, was apprehended in connection with the light rail stabbing in Charlotte. (Mecklenburg County Jail)
Solarzano faces charges including attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, breaking and entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon, and disorderly conduct due to intoxication. These charges are based on information from various Department of Homeland Security sources and arrest warrants reviewed by Fox News Digital.
CMPD noted Dobie was in critical but stable condition when he was taken to a hospital.
The victim told WRAL News that he saw Solarzano yelling at an older woman before Solarzano handed his bike to another passenger and said: “I’m about to show you who I really am.”
“I wasn’t trying to be a macho man,” Dobie said in a TikTok post from his hospital room. “But what I won’t allow is you to attack random people for no reason, especially the elderly.”
Dobie said he jumped up and told Solarzano to leave everyone alone. He said Solarzano then grabbed his hands and stabbed him as he tried to grab him back.
On Monday morning, Solarzano appeared in court, where he was denied bond.
Police in North Carolina have charged a 33-year-old man from Honduras with critically injuring another person in a stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train, just a few months after a Ukrainian refugee was murdered. (WJZY)
According to court documents, reviewed by Fox News Digital, Solarzano broke into a railroad car “with the intent to commit a felony,” while carrying a large fixed-blade knife.
While intoxicated, he challenged Dobie to a fight, cursing and shouting at others using “unintelligible and slurred words,” according to court documents.
He was booted from the country by the Trump administration in March 2018 on a deportation order and reentered illegally during the Biden administration at the Texas border in March 2021, DHS sources said.
WATCH: Migrant who was deported twice accused of Charlotte light rail stabbing
Solarzano was deported a second time by the Biden administration and reentered illegally as a got-away at an unknown time and location.
Solarzano has a prior conviction for robbery in the U.S. and prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest and false ID, DHS sources said.
Court records indicate he had known aliases, including Solarzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks alongside a photo of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was allegedly killed by Decarlos Brown Jr., on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the White House, Sept. 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
The stabbing attack comes months after Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on a LYNX Blue Line light rail while on her way home from work from a local pizzeria shop.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who is accused of killing Zarutska, was charged with violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law.
Brown had a history of violent crime, including assaults and robberies, and had also been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Yet he was still free and walking the streets.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the city of Charlotte and the CMPD for comment.
