Crime
Bystanders Tried To Help Charlotte Stabbing Victim In Her Dying Moments
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
Newly released footage from the murder of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, N.C. captures the moments when bystanders tried to help her as she bled on the floor of a public train.
Passengers gathered around in an apparent attempt to massage Iryna Zarutska’s wounds after she was fatally stabbed on the night of Aug. 22, as shown in extended video footage released Tuesday by Headline USA. The suspect, a mentally ill homeless man with a lengthy criminal record, now faces local and federal charges and could be put to death if convicted in federal court, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Tuesday.
🚨🚨 US Attorney of the Western District of North Carolina said that Iryna Zarutska’s family told the Ukrainian Embassy they would bury her here because “she loved America.” @DailyCallerpic.twitter.com/lNoboqSLhT
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The assailant, identified as DeCarlos Brown, is seen on surveillance video seated behind Zarutska for several minutes before suddenly standing up, raising his arm and stabbing her three times. Zarutska, 23, looked up in shock as the stabber began pacing around the train, blood dripping from him.
Zarutska put her face in her hands and slowly tipped over, falling unconscious, as the suspect remarked, “I got that white girl. I got that white girl,” the video shows. One of Zarutska’s stab wounds was to the middle of her throat, according to a police affidavit. Brown was later found on an outbound platform for the light rail system, police said.
After passengers gathered around Zarutska, a young man was seen laying her on her back as blood began spilling across the floor of the train and appeared to wipe her neck with napkins. One person was heard exclaiming, “Oh, my God” as others became aware of the situation.
Another man and woman bent over to assist the young man, who temporarily took off his shirt to apply it to Zarutska’s body. The group of bystanders was seen lifting her body toward a wider space on the floor of the train as they waited for police to arrive.
Zarutska emigrated from Ukraine with her family to the U.S. in 2022 to escape Russia’s invasion of the country, according to her obituary. Her family has chosen to have her buried in the U.S. because “she loved America,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said Tuesday.
Brown had at least 14 prior arrests on his record and was released from jail in January on a “written promise to appear” after being charged with misusing the 911 system during one of his mental episodes. Brown’s mother told local media that he had a history of aggressive behavior and should not have been allowed on the streets.
The DOJ said Tuesday it has not ruled out the possibility of civil rights charges for the murder. “We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Stuart Kaplan on “Jesse Watters Primetime” discussing Kirks assassination [Screenshot/Fox News/”Jesse Watters Primetime”]
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
By Hailey Gomez
Former FBI special agent Stuart Kaplan said Wednesday on “Jesse Watters Primetime” that the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk may have been a “professional hit.”
The 31-year-old TPUSA founder had been speaking with students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, when he was shot and killed. While discussing a potential suspect the FBI had interrogated but later released, Fox’s Jesse Watters asked Kaplan for his reaction to the attack.
“You know, Jesse, I think this assassination, different than the assassinated attempt [against President Donald Trump] back in Butler, Pennsylvania, was a very well-planned, very well-orchestrated plot that was put in motion days before. This individual had a plan of escape to elude detection of being out up on a rooftop and also being able to evade and elude law enforcement after that shot was taken,” Kaplan said.
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“When you take a look at what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, [Thomas Matthew] Crooks came onto the venue, he left the venue, he came back, he was questioned. I mean, it was really an amateur scenario,” Kaplan added. “This assassination of Charlie Kirk, to me, is indicative of a professional hit, and I’m not so sure that we are going to quickly be able to apprehend this individual without some luck, hopefully.”
Kirk had regularly gone on college campuses to debate students on their political stances, with thousands in the Utah crowd eager to see the TPUSA founder. About 20 minutes after Kirk had been debating with a student, a shot rang out, hitting Kirk and ultimately killing him.
WATCH:
A university spokesperson told the Daily Caller that the shot came from a building about 200 yards away. Following the attack, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that a subject was captured and being interrogated, but the subject was later released.
Watters went on to ask Kaplan what he meant by “professional hit,” asking if he believes anybody with “any sort of basic training” could have carried out the attack.
“Well, when you take a look at the video and you take a look at the venue and the spectators and how close they are to Charlie Kirk, and then you have that kind of umbrella over him, that kind of tent, you have to know that this shooter had to be perched in a position with respect to being able to lay his sights perfectly, basically a headshot,” Kaplan said. “The shot that was taken was taken to immediately incapacitate Charlie Kirk. So this was not some amateur who just got up on a rooftop because it was what I consider spontaneous combustion. He got up this morning and decided he was going to do something crazy.”
“This seems the earmark of a professional that got up onto this rooftop well in advance of the venue being occupied by the spectators. He was clearly undetected,” Kaplan said. “There was no indication that anybody saw him up on this rooftop. Obviously, after that one single shot was taken, he was able to basically very quietly and systematically elude any further detection and escape. There’s been no indication that there’s a vehicle identified or any mode of how he actually escaped the venue. So to me, this is someone who had some experience, some level of sophistication to have mapped out exactly how this was going to go down.”
In Patel’s most recent post on X as of Wednesday evening, the FBI director said the “subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement.” Patel added that the FBI’s investigation will continue and that it will further “release information in interest of transparency.”
Kirk is survived by his wife Erika and their two young children.
From the Daily Caller News Foundation
Authorities found ammunition from a rifle in the killing of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in Utah with messaging described as pro-transgender and anti-fascist, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing anonymous sources. (According to an internal law enforcement bulletin and a person familiar with the investigation)
Officials recovered a rifle in a wooded area after Krik was fatally shot in the neck during a TPUSA event at Utah Valley University in Orem on Wednesday. The shooter, still on the run, is described as a male of college age.
The FBI’s Salt Lake City office declined to comment to the Daily Caller News Foundation.
As a nonprofit, we are dependent on the generosity of our readers.
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) did not respond to a request for comment.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
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