CHARLOTTE — The deadly stabbing of a 23-year-old woman on Charlotte’s light rail train system last Friday shook city residents and raised important questions from residents about safety on the tracks. On Thursday, Channel 9 sat with leaders from the Charlotte Area Transit System to get answers.
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska fled the war against Russia and moved to North Carolina in 2022. On Friday, she lost her life when she was stabbed in the throat randomly by a man on a CATS Blue Line train, according to police.
Decarlos Brown, 34, has been booked into the Mecklenburg County Jail on a first-degree murder charge for the random killing, according to court records.
Witnesses helped identify Brown, who was unhoused and from Charlotte, and police found him on the train platform with a folding knife, police said.
Channel 9 spoke exclusively with transit and security leaders about safety after the attack. Video reviewed by detectives showed Brown seated in front of Zarutska before standing and striking her three times with a knife. Police said there was no prior interaction between the two, and the incident has raised new concerns about safety on the Lynx Blue Line.
Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz spoke with three men whose job it is to run Charlotte’s light rail safely. Brent Cagle, interim CEO for CATS; Eric Osnes, chief safety and security officer for CATS; and Lee Ratliff, assistant chief for Professional Security Services, the company that CATS contracts with to keep the transit system safe.
MORE PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- No security on board light rail when 23-year-old was fatally stabbed
- Local leaders demand action following deadly stabbing on light rail
- Woman flees war-torn Ukraine, killed on Charlotte light rail
- Suspect, victim identified in South End stabbing
Sáenz learned new details about the moment Zarutska was killed, and why the security team leader believes this could not have been prevented.
‘Horrific event’
“Last Friday on the Blue Line, what happened?” Sáenz asked.
“Iryna Zarutska was murdered, and I want to start off by expressing my condolences to her friends and her family,” said Cagle. “This kind of senseless violence it shakes us all. It’s shaken the community. It’s shaken our riders. It’s shaken our employees.”
Sáenz asked about the surveillance video onboard.
“It was a pretty horrific event,” Ratliff said. “It was a random act. Something that I don’t feel any person from a law enforcement, security perspective, could have done anything to prevent that.”
“What’s even more haunting, if you look at the video, policing is about monitoring behavior,” Osnes said. “There was absolutely no behavioral cues that would have triggered an interaction with this individual. This individual was sitting down, for all intents and purposes, looked like he was just having a normal train ride. There was nothing about his demeanor. He wasn’t sweating. He wasn’t talking to himself. He wasn’t interfacing in a manner that would have triggered attention to him that he was about to do a heinous act. And then all of a sudden, you see his face change. He commits the act, and it’s in a split second.”
Brown then, out of nowhere, stabbed Zarutska in the neck three times, according to an affidavit. She was immediately unresponsive and died on the train.
The officials said it took six seconds.
Brown’s mother told Channel 9 that her son suffers from schizophrenia and was homeless.
CATS said there was not a security guard on that train when this all happened.
‘Processes worked’
Sáenz asked if there was a security failure.
“No, no, no,” Ratliff said.
“On this night, I think that while the outcome is horrific, it’s terrible, the system, the processes, they all functioned as they should have on that night,” Cagle said. “Now, I think, knowing what we know now, there may have been other opportunities for this, for this person to have got the help they needed, or to, you know, not been where they weren’t at night. But on this night, I believe that processes worked.”
“I want to talk about the things that were successful that night,” Ratliff said. “The 911 call went in. And then the response from the call coming in six minutes, this person was in police custody.”
“You say your systems and policies worked, but a woman died,” Sáenz said.
“Absolutely and I acknowledge that,” Cagle said.
Policing
Sáenz said, “We have heard from law enforcement that there is power in presence, that if he may have seen a guard on board that train that night, he could have thought twice before he did what he did.”
“I can’t put a police officer or security officer on every street in Charlotte,” Ratliff said. “It’s just not feasible. It’s not from a budget standpoint, from a hiring standpoint. The perception of having security and presence is always great, and we want to increase those numbers, right? But at the end of the day, if someone wants to commit a violent crime, and that crime can be done in seconds, OK, there’s nothing that a police officer can do to stop that act from happening. We can react to it, but to prevent it, it’s not a lot we can do.
Ratliff’s Professional Security Services Company has 219 security officers working our transit system.
He said he’s open to adding more, but that would be a decision the city has to make and fund.
More security guards?
Sáenz asked if there is a desire for more guards in Charlotte’s transit system.
“There is absolutely a desire to understand what happened and how we can move forward and learn from that,” Cagle said. “But I also know that when we think about trying to have security personnel everywhere, throughout the system, every day, all day, it’s challenging. It’s not something that is feasible.”
Sáenz asked, “We want to be this large, big city, a world class city. There are other transit systems in this country that have a goal of putting two officers on every single train from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. let’s say. Why can’t we do that here?”
“We can do anything we choose to do when we choose to do it,” Ratliff said. “All right, but the thing I want to look at is, there’s budgets, there’s numbers, there’s all these things that go into factor into those decisions and how they’re made.”
There are conversations and decisions that could garner more attention but came too late for an immigrant looking for a better life.
“I can’t change what took place, but what I can say is that we’re going to learn from it, and we’re going to grow from it,” Ratliff said. “And we’re going to become better from it. And I want the family to know that my heart goes out to them.”
CATS officials said they know their system is not perfect and even before the deadly attack, they said plans were already underway to enhance safety.
One of those plans is to better enforce tickets on the light rail, ensuring riders actually buy a ticket to get on.
History of mental health issues
Brown has a history of mental health issues, including Schizophrenia, his mother said.
A retired judge told Channel 9 Wednesday to learn how challenging it can be to get an adult the mental health help they need.
Kimberly Best presided over the mental health court.
She said because Brown’s previous charge was only a minor crime, misusing the 911 system, it would have been very unlikely that a judge would have ordered him to get treatment.
“There are individuals whose families plead and beg for help and assistance but because of the lack of funding, because of the lack of resources, they are unable to get the help they need,” Best said.
Where was the fare?
A federal study notes that there’s an overlap between unpaid train fares and an increase in crime on transit.
The head of CATS told Channel 9 that none of this is simple.
“Did DeCarlos Brown have a ticket to be on that train?” Sáenz asked.
“I do not know the answer to that,” Cagle said.
“I don’t know,” Ratliff said.
“It’s part of the investigation,” Osnes said.
“Seems like a pretty easy part of the investigation to look it up,” Sáenz said.
“That’s a great question, but what’s more important to me is getting a conviction,” Ratliff said.
“Sure but arguably if we talk about prevention and he didn’t have a ticket, he technically should have never been on that train and should have, arguably, been stopped before getting on it. Correct?” Sáenz asked in response.
“Well, if we had looked at his evaluation, he probably shouldn’t have been in the community,” Ratliff said.
That’s because Brown has a documented history of mental health issues and crimes. But with Charlotte’s Blue Line designed as an open system with no gates or turnstiles, it can be easy for anyone to get on board.
“I think we’re all familiar with closed systems, where to enter to get on the train, you buy that ticket, and you go through the turnstile, or you go through the gates -- yep, the Blue Line is not one of those. And because of how it’s built, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to retrofit the system,” Cagle said. “That doesn’t mean that we can’t enforce fares. It means that we have to do it a little bit differently, and we know that fare evasion, both on the buses and on the trains, is an issue that we’re working to address.”
Channel 9 previously reported on CATS’ fare enforcement and noted that it was rare to see anyone check for tickets. Ratliff said they have dispatchers and camera systems that constantly monitor when people purchase tickets. However, Sáenz pointed out that he has never been asked for a ticket after seven years of riding the light rail.
“There are fare enforcement activities going on constantly throughout the system. It is a very large system, so you may not see them, right? You may, you may even ride for a very long time and not encounter them. But those fare enforcement activities are going on daily throughout this system,” Cagle said.
We asked if CATS is looking at putting more ticket enforcement people on board.
“That’s part of it. I think what we need to do is look at our deployment strategy and understand how functions related to fare evasion are associated with the current population that is responsible for it. It may be, it may be bringing in more people. It also may be about strategy change,” Osnes said.
One of those strategies is a validator, used in cities across the country. That would cut down on people purchasing a ticket on their phone after boarding if they see an inspector.
“You have to go to the validator, scan your ticket, literally, on your phone, the ticket turns green, yeah, so you know it’s validated. You can’t just hold it in your virtual wallet. You can’t just hold it in your virtual wallet, right? You have to validate before you get on the train, and you can’t validate once you’re on the train,” Cagle said.
Osnes said it’s one of many solutions that could make riding safer.
“There are some gaps in our system that need to be developed and evaluated, but through commitment of management, through the development of culture, through the workings of the expertise that’s in this room, I think we’re in a good, good spot to get us where we need to be,” Osnes said.
A tragic loss
Iryna was an artist who loved sculpting and designing. An obituary says she was known for her unique, eclectic clothing that “reflected her vibrant spirit.”
The young student escaped her war-torn homeland and began making a new home in the Queen City. She fled Ukraine with her mother, sister, and brother.
Iryna’s loved ones say she had a deep love for animals, and she often cared for her neighbors’ pets.
Charlotte’s Ukrainian community is heartbroken by the loss, and they’re remembering Iryna’s vision while calling for more safety.
VIDEO: Charlotte’s Ukrainian community calls for safety after woman killed on light rail
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