New York police say they have an 18-year-old teen suspect in custody for allegedly stabbing and killing Brooklyn activist Ryan Carson.
New York Post reports that police arrested Brian Dowling Thursday in connection with Carson’s death. During the search of a Lafayette Avenue home near the crime scene, police found a knife and sweatshirt believed worn to be worn by the suspect.
Sources reportedly said Carson declined to speak after his arrest and retained an attorney.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Carson had been waiting for a bus with his girflriend in Bedford-Stuyvesant at about 4 a.m. when the suspect approached him and fatally stabbed him. Police said it appeared to be a random attack.
Video showed the couple sitting together when Dowling walked by, police said. When they got up and began walking to the girlfriend’s apartment, Dowling allegedly attacked Carson.
Police said Dowling was potentially arguing with his girlfriend shortly before her started vandalizing mopeds and scooters parked on the sidewalk.
He then spotted Carson, and yelled “What the f**** are you looking at?” before stabbing him in the chest and fleeing the scene.
New York Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told ABC News the suspect was seen earlier in the surveillance video — which came from a deli near the crime scene — “acting agitated” while talking with the woman who appeared in the video after the stabbing.
Carson was a poet and a longtime organizer for the New York Public Interest Research Group, a non-partisan political organization, focusing on waste policy. He also created the campaign No OD NY to raise awareness for overdose prevention centers.
Dowling is facing charges of second-degree murder and criminal weapons possession.
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[Feature Photo: Ryan Carson/New York Public Interest Research Group]