CAUGHT

18-Year-Old Charged in Fatal Knifing of Brooklyn Activist

The suspect reportedly lives close to where Ryan Carson was randomly stabbed earlier this week.

Police have taken a suspect into custody in connection with the fatal stabbing of a young community activist in Brooklyn earlier this week, according to multiple reports.

An 18-year-old man, identified as Brian Dowling, has been charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon over the random slaying, police said.

Ryan Carson, 32, was standing at a bus stop with his girlfriend on Monday when he was confronted by a man who suddenly stabbed him in the chest in an unprovoked attack. Distressing surveillance footage showed Carson crumple to the ground as his attacker lunged for and spit at his girlfriend before fleeing.

The news comes just a day after cops said a “mentally disturbed” man had been identified as a person of interest in the case.

Sources cited by the New York Post said police recovered the sweatshirt allegedly worn by Carson’s killer, as well as a knife, during a search of a home near the crime scene. Dowling reportedly resides in that area.

Carson, a campaign organizer for the New York Public Interest Research Group, had been returning from a wedding with his girlfriend when the attack took place. Photos taken just hours earlier showed the couple dressed up and grinning from ear to ear.

Carson and his assailant had no prior interactions, police said.

A neighbor of Dowling quoted by the New York Daily News said they were “very surprised” to hear he’d been taken into custody.

“He was the sweetest boy,” the neighbor said.

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