Police in North Carolina have released multiple 911 calls made after 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was fatally stabbed on the Charlotte light rail, in which witnesses expressed shock at the unprovoked attack.
“This man just f—— stabbed this woman for no reason,” a distraught witness said in one of six calls released by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department on Wednesday.
“Oh my god, he just f—— stabbed her,” he said.
Iryna Zarutska, who is not pictured, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack while riding the light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Charlotte Area Transit System
Witnesses detailed attempts by other passengers to help Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was heading home from work the night she was stabbed.
Witnesses reported that the victim was unresponsive on the floor of the train.
“She lost a lot of blood,” one man said on a call.
Another woman said people were trying to put pressure on her wounds.
“There’s just a lady right now on the ground with a lot of blood,” the caller said. “People are just freaking out.”
The caller said there was a lot of blood, and she believed the victim was unresponsive.
“There’s a lot of people around her, they’re all saying that she’s gone,” the caller said. “I think she’s gone.”
Iryna Zarutska in a photo posted to her Instagram.
Iryna Zarutska/Instagram
Zarutska was stabbed three times with a knife and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to an affidavit.
Some 911 callers, whose voices have been altered to protect their identity, provided descriptions of the suspect, with one describing him as wearing an orange hoodie.
Another described the suspect as having dreadlocks, with a hoodie wrapped around his hand.
“He’s walking back and forth on the platform,” the caller said. “He’s on the opposite platform.”
A witness directed officers to the suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., the night of the fatal stabbing, according to the affidavit. He was charged with first-degree murder, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
He has also been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, which could make him eligible for the death penalty, the Justice Department said.
He has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
After the attack, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the city would be increasing security on commuter trains “effective immediately.”
ABC News’ Megan Forrester contributed to this report.