Police have arrested the man they say fatally stabbed a community advocate with Massachusetts roots in front of his girlfriend early Monday morning in Brooklyn, New York, law enforcement sources say.
Police executed a warrant Thursday morning for an apartment located near the scene of the fatal crime for clothing worn by the suspect when they found the suspect himself inside that apartment, sources said.
STAY IN THE KNOW
 |
Watch NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
 |
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters. |
Eighteen-year-old Brian Dowling was taken into custody after officers executed a search warrant at his family home on Lafayette Avenue in connection to the shocking stabbing death of a public policy advocate who was stabbed to death in front of his girlfriend while sitting on a bus bench early Monday morning.
Police say they found the sweatshirt he allegedly wore on the night of Ryan Carson's murder. A knife was also recovered, police said, adding that it still unknown if it is the murder weapon.
Get top local stories in Boston delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Boston's News Headlines newsletter.
Dowling has been charged with murder-depraved indifference, police say. Attorney information was not immediately known.
Carson, 32, was waiting for a bus in Bed-Stuy near the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard with his girlfriend after attending a wedding when a man started kicking what appeared to be trash on the street, surveillance video showed, apparently after a fight with his girlfriend.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
The man could be heard cursing and threatening Carson saying, "I'm going to kill you right now."
Carson could be heard on the video trying to de-escalate the situation as the man approached him.
"Chill, chill, chill," Carson said.
The man, appearing to hold a knife in his right hand, took a swing at Carson's face and when Carson tried to run away and tripped over the bus bench, the suspect stabbed Carson multiple times, the video appeared to show.
The surveillance video also showed the suspect attacking Carson's girlfriend. While Carson is bleeding on the pavement, the suspect spit at her, kicked Carson, and then ran away. After the stabbing, a woman believed to be Dowling's girlfriend is seen on surveillance apologizing to Carson's girlfriend.
Carson was transported by ambulance to NYC Health and Hospitals/Kings County where he was pronounced deceased, NYPD officials said.
Carson was active in public policy advocacy on a range of issues, including climate change and harm reduction. He grew up in East Bridgewater and attended Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, Mass., where he was voted best personality.
The high school said it was mourning the death of the 2010 graduate, calling this an unimaginable tragedy.
Yearbook photos show him smiling during his time in school. The school's president says he still can't believe that he's gone.
"It's difficult to learn of the fact that you know here's a young man only 13 years out of Cardinal Spellman trying to make changes in the world, trying to be a good citizen and unfortunately was cut down too soon," Cardinal Spellman president Daniel Hoades said.
The fact that he was voted best personality by his classmates tells you a lot about who he was. Those who knew him are grieving and struggling to process the details of his shocking death.
"A very gregarious person, a person who a lot of the kids wanted to be around," Hoades said.
The high school held a remembrance mass on Friday that was standing room only. Future tributes to Carson are being planned.
"He is a larger than life character," said Blair Horner, executive director of NYPIRG, who worked with Carson. "He's very, very jovial, and charismatic staff loved him. His students loved him."
"It's a terrible tragedy. The world will be somewhat less well off because of his absence."
Carson's parents still live in East Bridgewater. After going to New York this week, they are now back home in Massachusetts and working on plans to bury their beloved son.
"I cant even imagine the difficulties that they're going to be facing and we're just here as a community praying for them," Hoades said.
Counseling services are being offered at the high school.
The investigation into Carson's death is ongoing.
