911 Calls From Iryna Zarutska’s Murder Released

Witnesses to Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska’s murder aboard a public bus screamed in terror as they reported that a mumbling, knife-wielding man had stabbed her before fleeing, according to newly released recordings of 911 calls.

Zarutska’s death captured the fears and imaginations of conservatives who held up the 23-year-old’s death as an emblem of consequences resulting from lawless streets in Democratic strongholds like Charlotte, North Carolina. Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was arrested and charged with her death in an attack that some evidence suggests may have been racially motivated.

Widely circulated video of Zarutska’s final moments shows the young woman huddled in a ball on her bus seat after being slashed in the neck by Brown, a criminal with a history of mental illness, according to his sister. Within moments, blood poured from Zarutska’s neck, and she eventually lost consciousness and died while waiting for help to arrive.

Callers to 911 spoke in increasingly frantic terms as it appeared Zarutska, who fled her home country of Ukraine during the ongoing war, wouldn’t be able to hold out for emergency services.

“A man just f**king stabbed this woman for no reason,” a breathless male passenger recounted in a three-minute call obtained by the NY Post.

“Please hurry, she’s bleeding. She’s bleeding a lot,” he pleaded while struggling to answer the dispatcher’s questions about the situation aboard the Lynx Blue Line on Aug. 22.

The eyewitness description of Brown as a black man wearing blue jeans and a hoodie matched security video from the vehicle showing Brown leaning by the bus’s back door moments after slashing Zarutska in the neck with a pocket knife. Seconds later, the bus came to a halt, and Brown fled into the night.

Another caller said Zarutska was “not responsive” as a crowd of passengers tried to apply pressure to her neck wound.

“This lady just got stabbed. There is a lady on the ground with a lot of blood…we didn’t see it,” a female passenger said in a second 911 call while stating that she missed witnessing the actual attack.

“People are freaking out. There is a lot of blood. I think she’s gone.”

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Some callers focused on describing Zarutska’s attacker for authorities, but others couldn’t help but hyperventilate about her death right in front of their eyes.

“Some girl got stabbed on the train. I think she’s dead, man,” an anxious caller cried, the NY Post reported.

“I think the girl might be dead, man…the guy who did it is standing over here on the ramp.”

Brown, who had 13 prior convictions and was free on bail at the time, admitted in a jailhouse recording that he is unsure why he chose to target Zarutska that night. However, footage from the bus initially made it appear as though the schizophrenic felon was focused on her race.

“I got that white girl, I got that white girl,” Brown said after stabbing Zarutska and exiting the bus.