(CHARLOTTE, NC.) — After a Ukrainian woman was stabbed to death on Charlotte’s light rail system late last month, the mayor said the city is now increasing security on commuter trains “effective immediately,” as the attack continues to spark outrage among elected officials.
“As I reflect on the tragic murder of Iryna Zarutska my heart continues to go out to her family and our community as we try to make sense of this horrific and senseless loss,” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said in a statement Monday evening.
Zartuska, 23, was fatally stabbed on Aug. 22 just before 10 p.m. while riding the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.
The recent release of the attack on video has caused national outrage, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying the department is investigating the city and “its failure to protect Iryna Zarutska.”
“If mayors can’t keep their trains and buses safe, they don’t deserve the taxpayers’ money,” Duffy said in a post shared to X on Monday.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein also said he was “appalled” the the unprovoked murder.
“We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe,” Stein said in a statement on Monday.
This comes after the Charlotte Area Transit System, or CATS, confirmed to ABC News there was not security on board the train at the time of the attack, with a spokesperson saying a security team “patrols the system, they are not stationed in one area.”
“At the time of the incident they were riding on a train directly in front of where the incident occurred,” a spokesperson for CATS told ABC News.
Lyles said “effective immediately” CATS security personnel will be “re-deployed for a stronger presence on Blue Line platforms” and police will also be “increasing patrols at key areas across the transit system.”
“Residents across our community and visitors to our region depend on public transit. We owe it to them to make sure our public transit system and our city are safe and secure,” Lyles said.
CATS will also be rolling out “new safety operations including bike units and urban terrain vehicles” over the next two to three weeks, Lyles said.
On Aug. 22, Zarutska boarded the train and sat in an aisle seat directly in front of the suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., who is seen in a window seat wearing an orange sweatshirt.
The train travels for “approximately four and a half minutes before the suspect pulls a knife out of his pocket, unfolds the knife, pauses, then stands up, and strikes at the victim three times,” according to the affidavit obtained by ABC News.
Prior to the stabbing, there appeared to be “no interaction between the victim and the defendant,” the affidavit said.
Zarutska was pronounced dead at the scene and a witness directed officials to the location of the suspect, the affidavit said.
Brown was arrested after he was released from the hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries sustained at the time of the incident” and was charged with first-degree murder, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
The 34-year-old suspect has a criminal record including larceny and breaking and entering charges. He also spent five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon starting in 2015, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
Brown’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 19, according to court records. It is unclear whether Brown has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
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