CATS gives details on alleged stabber’s history on light rail

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Five days after the light rail stabbing, CATS officials say Oscar Solarzano was banned from the transit system for two incidents in October. The ban didn’t stop Solarzano from getting on a light rail train on Friday night and allegedly stabbing Kenyon Dobie.

“Certainly that signals a system breakdown,” Charlotte City Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera said.

Five days after the stabbing, CATS is finally answering questions about what happened in a letter to the Mayor and City Council. Solarzano was cited back on October 8th, 2025 for bringing a knife on city property then the next day, October 9th, 2025 he was cited again for public intoxication on city property. Officials say he was banned for a year and a half at the time of the incidents. Due to a data entry error, they say officers did not have the knowledge that Solarzano had been cited the prior day because if they did he would have been banned indefinitely.

CATS CEO Brent Cagle says, “A transit exclusion is a legal restriction, not a physical barrier. It gives CATS the authority to remove or cite someone, but it doesn’t by itself prevent boarding.” He goes on to write, “Transit systems are not controlled access and without controlled access there is no automatic system to block an excluded person.”

The newly formed Metropolitan Public Transit Authority will meet for the first time December 18th. The 27-member board will have the responsibility of deciding how to better secure the light rail and bus system. Corine Mack is a member of the board.

“This is not a transit system. This is a light rail. So very different,” Mack said. “I think that there clearly needs to be uniformed officers in certain areas, but I also think there’s an opportunity for us to think beyond the box, to expand our horizons and re-imagine what safety looks like and what community safety looks like. And so there is a responsibility for our communities to be engaged in a greater way. All that is going to take additional funding.”

Mack has over 20 years of experience in transit systems. She is from New York where the subway is closed off with barriers, but the system still looses millions of dollars from people who find ways to avoid paying to ride the subway. CATS officials say Solarzano did not have a ticket at the time of the attack on Friday.

“Some enclosures and some other things, some gates and other things that would ensure, specific areas will have a safer environment,” Mack said. “But I think it’s important that the entire board comes together to have those conversations to figure out what that looks like.”

CATS CEO says they are exploring facial recognition technology that could help identify banned people. After the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska back in August, officials vowed to increase security and fare enforcement.

In October, CEO Cagle then said installing barriers in the light rail system would require major funding and infrastructure changes.

“One system in the US that has actually tried to convert an open system to a closed system is Saint Louis. They have just done that and so we’ll continue looking at it,” CEO Cagle said.

Oscar Solarzano remains in the Mecklenburg County Detention Center on no bond.