Latest Charlotte rail stabbing suspect ordered to stay behind bars in first court hearing
By Andy Rose, Dianne Gallagher, CNN
Charlotte, North Carolina (CNN) — The man accused of turning some angry words into another stabbing incident on the light rail service in Charlotte, North Carolina made his first court appearance Monday.
Prosecutors said in court 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano has admitted to the stabbing, but the suspect was not asked to enter a plea. A judge ordered him to remain jailed without bond. He is facing five charges, including attempted first-degree murder.
Solarzano appeared from jail by video link, listening with arms crossed through the assistance of a Spanish translator.
The public defender’s office declined to comment in court.
His initial appearance comes as city leaders are giving assurances their community is safe.
“Everyone deserves to be and feel safe in our city, and there is no room for violence in our community,” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles wrote Saturday in a post on X.
It was the second time this year there has been a high-profile case where city police responded to an innocent passenger being stabbed on the LYNX Blue Line, part of the Charlotte Area Transit System. In this case, the victim survived.
Kenyon Dobie told CNN affiliate WRAL over the weekend he was trying to protect an elderly woman being screamed at on the train when the verbal attacker turned physical.
“I guess it’s better off that it happened to me and not an older person,” Dobie told the station from his hospital bed.
Friday’s stabbing caps a tumultuous season for the Queen City, following the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on the same rail line in August and a controversial weeklong immigration operation last month.
It is drawing even closer national scrutiny as the Trump administration says the suspect is an illegal immigrant who had previously been deported from the US twice.
Here is the latest on the most recent assault and the political debate it has intensified.
Suspect’s immigration status at center of debate
Solarzano was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2018 and then deported by the Trump administration, according to Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. He was removed again after entering the US illegally in 2021.
“Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina,” President Donald Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. “What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!!”
The president’s post appeared to be referencing the fatal stabbing of Zarutska but conflating the circumstances. In that case, the victim was a legally authorized resident – a refugee of the war in Ukraine – who was allegedly killed by a natural-born US citizen, Decarlos Brown.
While the immigration status of the suspects is different in the two light rail stabbing cases this year, both involve suspects who managed to avoid responsibility for past violations, according to authorities. McLaughlin said it is not clear when Solarzano most recently came back to the US after two deportations, while Brown rarely stayed in treatment or detention for long, his family has said, despite a record of mental illness and violent crime.
The mayor’s social media post on last week’s stabbing sidestepped a direct response to the controversy over immigration.
“There are several aspects of public safety that are outside of the city’s jurisdiction, including immigration policy and enforcement,” Lyles said, “but we will continue to focus on public safety and ensuring a safe and vibrant community.”
Immigration operation in Charlotte recently ended
Friday’s assault came only two weeks after the conclusion of Operation Charlotte’s Web, the immigration crackdown carried out by the Trump administration in Charlotte that DHS said resulted in more than 400 arrests.
It was the third in a series of prominent and controversial urban operations led by Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, which have also touched Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans. Bovino took to social media over the weekend to respond to Gov. Josh Stein’s call for prayers for the victim and defense of local law enforcement.
“The blood of innocents is on you,” he replied to Stein on X. “We’ve shown and told you for weeks now, yet you continue choosing illegal aliens over Ma and Pa America.”
The administration was also quick to weigh in on the fatal stabbing of Zarutska earlier this year, even though the alleged murderer was not an immigrant.
“Her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement announcing a federal terrorism charge being filed against Brown.
The Charlotte Area Transit System said it has increased safety operations since the killing of Zarutska, with greater private security and now working alongside sworn police officers.
“Since August, CATS, together with our partners, have 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,” transit officials said in a statement.
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This story was written by CNN’s Andy Rose in Atlanta with reporting from Dianne Gallagher in Charlotte. CNN’s Alaa Elassar, Emma Tucker, Elizabeth Wolfe, Jeff Winter and TuAnh Dam contributed to this report.
