Current:Home > MyTeen arrested in fatal stabbing of beloved Brooklyn poet and activist Ryan Carson -Nova Finance Academy
Teen arrested in fatal stabbing of beloved Brooklyn poet and activist Ryan Carson
View
Date:2025-04-17 09:13:24
New York City police arrested an 18-year-old Thursday in the slaying of a prominent Brooklyn poet in what authorities say was an unprovoked attack.
NYPD officer Isa Acosta confirmed to USA TODAY that Brian Dowling faces murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges in relation to the death of Ryan Thoreson Carson.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kennedy said at a news conference Wednesday on the city's crime statistics that Carson, 31, was killed in a stabbing in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood early Monday.
Kennedy said that when police arrived, Carson was lying unresponsive on the sidewalk near the intersection of Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard. He died at Kings County Hospital.
Carson's death shocked many of his loved ones and those who knew him through his advocacy and poetry.
"Ryan Carson threw himself into everything he did with passion and humanity," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "I worked with him on a big townhall he hosted with NYPIRG and on the Inflation Reduction Act. A rising talent and an extraordinary activist. May his memory and work inspire us."
Carson attacked while waiting for bus
Carson was with a female companion Monday waiting for a bus to his home nearby when the suspect walked past the couple and appeared to damage some parked scooters, Kennedy said.
Kennedy said the suspect asked Carson, "What are you looking at?"
When Carson stepped in front of his companion, the suspect began swinging a knife at the poet, who fell to the ground, Kennedy said.
"The unidentified male begins to stab Mr. Carson three times, striking him once in the right chest. And the knife pierces Mr. Carson's heart, causing his death," Kennedy said.
After the attack, an unidentified woman approached Carson's companion and apologized while saying the name "Brian," Kennedy said.
Family, friends mourn Carson's death
Carson worked at the New York Public Interest Research Group for nearly a decade, starting while he was studying at Pratt Institute, NYPIRG said in a statement Monday. He focused on community outreach and led the organization's campaign on modernizing New York state's bottle deposit law.
"Ryan was a beloved staffer, colleague and friend, and a creative, talented, relentless and upbeat advocate for students and the environment," NYPIRG said. "His engaging personality, hearty laugh and wide-ranging intelligence were keys to his success in advancing the causes he deeply cared about in his work and personal life."
According to Caron's LinkedIn page, Carson walked more than 300 miles across New York State in 2021 to call attention to the state's opioid crisis and the need for harm reduction after he lost a close friend to an overdose in 2016. That led him to create the No OD NY campaign in 2021, according to an announcement shared on YouTube.
"My feet ache thinking about it, but my heart is relieved from working with the people I met along the way, who eased my grief and helped us to gain crucial ground," Carson wrote.
veryGood! (58381)
Related
- Average rate on 30
- California governor signs law banning college legacy and donor admissions
- Mail delivery suspended in Kansas neighborhood after 2 men attack postal carrier
- After Helene’s destruction, a mountain town reliant on fall tourism wonders what’s next
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Kristin Cavallari Reveals Why She Broke Up With Mark Estes
- Port workers strike at East Coast, Gulf ports sparks fears of inflation and more shortages
- Asheville, North Carolina, officials warn water system could take weeks to repair
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Opinion: Chappell Roan doesn't owe you an explanation for her non-endorsement of Harris
Ranking
- Average rate on 30
- Boo Buckets are coming back: Fall favorite returns to McDonald's Happy Meals this month
- Officials warned electric vehicles can catch fire in Helene flooding: What to know
- Tennessee factory employees clung to semitruck before Helene floodwaters swept them away
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Will anyone hit 74 homers? Even Aaron Judge thinks MLB season record is ‘a little untouchable’
- Erin Foster Shares Where She Stands With Step-Siblings Gigi Hadid and Brody Jenner
- Proof Gabourey Sidibe’s 5-Month-Old Twin Babies Are Growing “So Big So Fast”
Recommendation
Nearly half of US teens are online ‘constantly,’ Pew report finds
Helene is already one of the deadliest, costliest storms to hit the US: Where it ranks
Travis Kelce Shows Off His Hosting Skills in Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? Trailer
Support Breast Cancer Awareness Month With These Products From Jill Martin, Laura Geller, and More
Hackers hit Rhode Island benefits system in major cyberattack. Personal data could be released soon
Taylor Swift’s Makeup Artist Lorrie Turk Reveals the Red Lipstick She Wears
Alabama now top seed, Kansas State rejoins College Football Playoff bracket projection
Dockworkers go on a strike that could reignite inflation and cause shortages in the holiday season