Police in Charlotte, North Carolina, arrested a 33-year-old man in connection with a stabbing aboard a light rail train, just four months after a Ukrainian refugee was killed in a separate attack on the city's transportation system.
Authorities on Dec. 6chargedOscar Solarzano with three felonies, including attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury, and breaking and entering a motor vehicle, as well as several misdemeanors.
Solarzana is accused of breaking into a commuter train car and stabbing 24-year-old Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie with a large knife, according to court documents. An arrest warrant alleges Solarzano, appearing intoxicated, shouted unintelligibly at Dobie and challenged him to fight before stabbing him.
See protesters rally in Charlotte after federal immigration raids spark outrage
Dobie was transported to a local hospital and is currently in critical but stable condition, according to police.
Magistrate Judge Rebecca Howell wrote in court filings that Solarzano was in the United States illegally and had previously been deported. He is being held without bond.
In aDec. 6 news release, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said it had requested that local police hold Solarzano until they are able to take custody of him. According to the release, Solarzano is from Honduras and was removed from the United States in 2018. He was apprehended at the border in 2021 and was removed again, before reentering the country at "an unknown date and location."
"This heinous stabbing by this twice-removed illegal alien should have NEVER happened. ICE lodged an arrest detainer to ensure Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia is not released back into North Carolina neighborhoods," Department of Homeland Security SecretaryKristi Noemsaid in a statement.
She accused officials in North Carolina's Mecklenburg County of not cooperating with ICE enforcement in the past. Experts previously told USA TODAY that North Carolina has some of thestrictest immigration provisionsin the country, including a mandate requiring local jails to hold arrested immigrants so federal authorities can collect them.
The stabbing incident comes months after the fatal attack of a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte train cargarnered national attention. The killing of Iryna Zarutska led PresidentDonald Trumptotarget Charlotteas part of his crime crackdown in Democratic-led cities and launch "Operation Charlotte's Web."
More:What's happening in North Carolina? Feds are swarming the swing state.
Federal agents arrested more than 130 undocumented immigrants in Charlotte as part of the crackdown, including several dozen with charges from driving under the influence to aggravated assault, according to DHS. USA TODAY has not independently verified those figures.
It's unclear if the same immigration efforts in Charlotte are ongoing. The Mecklenburg County Sheriff's office said the federal officials ended their operation in November, but a spokesperson for DHS told USA TODAY at the time that the operation was "not ending anytime soon."
DHS did not immediately respond to questions from USA TODAY about updated figures on the number of people arrested as part of immigration operations in Charlotte, or about the status of enforcement in the Southern city.
Trump addressed the Charlotte stabbing in a Dec. 6 social media post, writing, "Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina. What's going on in Charlotte?"
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein expressed gratitude for state law enforcement in a social media postresponding to the violent incidentDec. 5.
"I am pleased that Chief Patterson was already surging law enforcement throughout Charlotte with Operation Safe Season, and I am grateful to the state law enforcement agencies that are assisting the operation. Public safety is a top priority for us all," Stein wrote.
Overall, rates ofviolent crime have declined in Charlottethis year, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. As of October, the city said it saw crime decrease 8% year over year, with a 20% decrease in violent crime, including homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults.
Contributing: Christopher Cann, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Second Charlotte train stabbing renews focus on immigration crackdown
