NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) – Police were searching Wednesday for a man named "Brian" who they said was seen on horrific surveillance video fatally stabbing a beloved social advocate and poet in an unprovoked attack on a Brooklyn street this week.
The victim, 32-year-old Ryan Carson, and his girlfriend had just returned home to Bedford-Stuyvesant early Monday from a wedding on Long Island when the stabbing unfolded.
The couple was getting up from a bus stop bench at Malcolm X Boulevard and Lafayette Avenue shortly before 4 a.m. when an emotionally disturbed man who was knocking over mopeds stormed up to Carson and said, "What are you looking at?"
Carson placed himself between the man and his girlfriend and tried to deescalate the situation, according to police.
"This male then produces a knife and swings it at Mr. Carson, who begins to back up," NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a press conference Wednesday. "Mr. Carson eventually trips and falls to the ground."
As Carson was on the ground, the man stabbed him three times, striking him once in the right chest in what was a fatal blow to the heart, the chief said.
"As Mr. Carson laid dying on the sidewalk, the male with the knife kicks him in the chest, threatens to stab the woman companion and spits in her face," Kenny said. "The perp then flees the scene."
Moments before the attack, the alleged killer was arguing with a woman just down the street, according to police. That same woman rushed over to help soon after the stabbing.
"An unidentified female arrives on the scene and begins to apologize to the couple and she mutters the name Brian," Kenny said.
According to the chief, the NYPD received several leads in the case and has developed a suspect. They're working to establish probable cause as they search for this "Brian" and the woman he was with.
The killing of Carson—who worked at the New York Public Interest Research Group and was an advocate for drug overdose prevention—has shocked the community and led to an outpouring of grief from his friends and colleagues, as well as elected leaders.
"Ryan Carson turned his passion into purpose. He advocated tirelessly for others, and his giving spirit was a buoy to all," Mayor Eric Adams wrote on the social media site X. "His murder is unthinkable, and the NYPD won't rest until we bring him to justice. I'm praying for all who knew and loved Ryan."
Sen. Chuck Schumer wrote on X, "Ryan Carson threw himself into everything he did with passion and humanity."
"I worked with him on a big town hall he hosted with NYPIRG and on the Inflation Reduction Act," Schumer wrote. "A rising talent and an extraordinary activist. May his memory and work inspire us."
Other lawmakers, including Assembly Member Emily Gallagher and state Sen.
Julia Salazar also remembered his impact.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
