FBI Director Kash Patel announced that the agency is probing a fatal stabbing incident involving a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte, North Carolina train.
“The FBI has been investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one,” Patel wrote in a post on X. “Stay tuned.”
According to Patel, on August 22, 2025, Iryna Zarutska, aged 23, was reportedly stabbed multiple times in the neck by Decarlos Brown Jr. while she was on the Charlotte light rail.
– News reported that Brown was arrested and charged with first-degree murder regarding the attack on Zarutska.
Recently released footage acquired by WBTV News captures the moment Zarutska boarded the train, sitting in front of Brown. The video seemingly shows Brown retrieving a pocket knife and attacking Zarutska by stabbing her three times in the neck. Following the assault, Brown walked through the train, with passengers noticing blood dripping from him:
The initial video clip shows Brown, the alleged attacker, seated on the rail car prior to Zarutska’s boarding. Brown appears agitated and distressed in his seat.
The subsequent clip captures Zarutska from one angle as she boards and sits in front of Brown, with another clip providing a different perspective of her entrance and seating.
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In its entirety, the video, reviewed by WBTV, displays the moment Brown swings his arm to stab Zarutska three times in the neck. Shocked by the attack, Zarutska falls to the ground shortly thereafter.
Court records viewed by the New York Post have shown that Brown “has more than a dozen convictions dating back to 2014.”
– News reported that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Elon Musk were among the many people who criticized establishment media outlets such as NPR, CNN, and the New York Times for not initially covering the attack.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles (D) issued a statement that there was a need for a bipartisan solution that would “address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions” and that would address people who are unable to “get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets.”
“Over the past several weeks as our community has worked to understand this, what we know is that this was a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates,” Lyles said in a statement. “Our police officers arrest people only to have them quickly released, which undermines our ability to protect our community and ensure safety. We need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets.”
The statement from Lyles comes after she thanked “media partners and community members” for not sharing or reposting footage of the attack after the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) released the footage.
President Donald Trump responded to the news of the stabbing, stating that Zarutska’s “blood is on the hands” of Democrats like former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who “refuse to put bad people in jail.”
“I have seen the horrific video of a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee, who came to America to escape the vicious War in Ukraine, and was innocently riding the Metro in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on CASHLESS BAIL in January, a total of 14 TIMES.”
