A twice-deported illegal immigrant from Honduras with a criminal history has been charged with Friday’s stabbing on the light rail train in Charlotte, N.C.
Oscar Gerardo Solarzano-Garcia, 33, of Honduras, was arrested in the stabbing attack that left a man critically injured while riding the Blue Line light rail shortly before 5 p.m. Friday. Court documents indicate a drunk Solarzano-Garcia jumped onto the railroad car and challenged the victim to a fight before attacking him.
He has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with serious injury, breaking/entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and intoxicated/disruptive behavior, according to various news reports.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also lodged an arrest detainer for the suspect.
Solarzano-Garcia appeared in court on Monday and a North Carolina judge ordered him to remain held without bond, the Associated Press reported. Mecklenburg County District Judge Keith Smith scheduled his next hearing for Dec. 30.
During the hearing, it was revealed that Solarzano-Garcia had been banned from Charlotte Area Transit Service property in October. CATS spokesman Brett Baldeck confirmed the ban, but did not have any further details. “Our security team is looking into this now,” Baldeck said in the AP report.
President Donald Trump reacted to the news on Truth Social over the weekend, saying, “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!!!”
Solorzano-Garcia was out walking free despite prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, using a false ID, and convictions for robbery and illegally re-entry, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
DHS issued a news release and said that sanctuary policies prevented nearly 1,400 ICE detainers from being honored across North Carolina.
Solorzano-Garcia was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2018 and deported by the Trump Administration on March 9, 2018. Border Patrol apprehended him illegally crossing the border again in 2021 during the Biden administration, and he was again removed.
Solorzano-Garcia reentered illegally as a got-away for a third time at an unknown date and location, DHS said.
“This heinous stabbing by this twice removed illegal alien should have NEVER happened,” said DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is not released back into North Carolina neighborhoods. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee the county will honor the detainer since they have a history of not cooperating with ICE.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers responded to a call regarding assault with a deadly weapon around 4:50 p.m. Friday.
CMPD issued an alert and said they found the victim, identified as 24-year-old Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, with a stab wound. Dobie was reportedly stabbed in the chest and was taken to a hospital, police said.
Solarzano broke into a railroad car “with the intent to commit a felony,” while carrying a large fixed-blade knife, according to court documents.
He was visibly intoxicated and challenged Dobie to a fight, cursing and shouting at others using “unintelligible and slurred words,” Fox News Digital reported.
His address was listed as an address matching the Roof Above shelter, MSN reported.
The Associated Press was unable to reach Dobie, but he told new outlet WRAL that he confronted Solorzano-Garcia for yelling at an older woman.
“I guess it’s better off that it happened to me and not an older person,” Dobie told the station.
“I wasn’t trying to be a macho man,” Dobie said in a TikTok post from his hospital room. “But what I won’t allow is you to attack random people for no reason, especially the elderly.”
Court records indicate he had known aliases, including Solarzano-Garcia, Oscar Herardo and Kevin Garcia, Fox News Digital reported.
The stabbing incident follows a fatal stabbing attack that took place on Aug. 22 on Charlotte’s LYNX Blue Line light rail.
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed — while passengers watched and did not try to intervene — on her way home from work. The man charged for her murder, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, had a lengthy criminal history and was released multiple times despite also assaulting his family members.
Brown, also diagnosed with schizophrenia, had 14 prior arrests for felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault, shoplifting and making threats. The state filed charges against Brown for first degree murder.
In October, Brown was federally indicted and charged with one count of violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law. If convicted, he faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison or death.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also called out Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles in an X post.
“Apparently, the death of Iryna Zarutska wasn’t enough. What is it going to take for @CLTMayor to remove violent criminals off the streets and protect her constituents?” Duffy wrote. “The time to act is NOW.”
Over the weekend, he followed up with another X post regarding Friday’s attack on public transit, saying “@POTUS is right… ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We need justice NOW!”
🚨An illegal immigrant who was previously deported is now accused of attempted murder for stabbing a man on the Charlotte Light Rail this week🚨
This is just MONTHS AFTER the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska.@POTUS is right… ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. We need justice NOW! pic.twitter.com/rnQBer1W3L
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) December 7, 2025
Last month, DHS launched Operation Charlotte’s Web in North Carolina to crack down on crime and immigration offenses.
Agents with ICE, U.S. Border Patrol and other federal agencies targeted the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to the Tar Heel State “because they knew sanctuary politicians would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS said.
Nearly 1,400 detainers across North Carolina have not been honored—releasing criminal illegal aliens into North Carolina’s neighborhoods.
“Under President Trump, ICE is being unleashed to ensure public safety for all Americans,” Noem said. “Make no mistake: We will not rest until every depraved criminal illegal alien is removed from our communities.”
