Ryan Carson stabbed to death in Brooklyn street in front of girlfriend

Ryan Carson, 32, can be seen sitting on a bus stop bench in the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant and speaking with his girlfriend as the two made their way home from a wedding on Long Island just before 4am on Monday, local time, according to the surveillance footage.

Wearing a grey suit, Mr Carson and the young woman, dressed in a blue, sleeveless gown, get up and begin to walk down the block, in the same direction as a man in a dark sweatshirt who had just strolled past the pair at the B38 bus stop, with his hood up over his head and his hands in his pockets.

Just metres ahead of them, the stranger begins kicking scooters parked near kerb for no apparent reason, the footage obtained by the New York Post shows.

Suddenly, the unhinged man turns to Mr Carson and says, “What the f**k are you looking at?”

Mr Carson, a beloved community activist, replied that he wasn’t looking at anything, and then stepped between his girlfriend and the irate stranger, who began to advance on the couple.

“I’ll kill you!” the man threatens as Mr Carson pleads with him to “Chill! Chill!” and holds up his hand.

But the attacker pursues Mr Carson, pulling a knife as the victim’s girlfriend, running up behind them, is heard frantically yelling, “Please, please, please!”

As he runs, Mr Carson tumbles over the bench the couple had earlier been sitting on.

The assailant then grabs his jacket and knocks him onto the ground, savagely stabbing him multiple times in the chest as the victim’s girlfriend catches up to them.

He then walks away as Mr Carson lies curled up on the ground, before returning and approaching the terrified woman, who raises her hand to stop him.

The assailant, still clutching the knife, spits on her before kicking the mortally wounded Mr Carson and storming away.

An unknown woman then appears near the corner of the frame, yelling, “Don’t hurt him!” at the crazed man and repeating what sounds like the name “Brian” or “Bryan”.

Investigators believe that the woman and the suspect knew each other prior to the slaying, police sources said on Tuesday.

“I’m so sorry!” the same woman exclaims as she approaches Mr Carson, still lying on the sidewalk, as his worried girlfriend stands at his side.

“Go watch him,” the victim’s girlfriend directs the woman while pointing at the attacker.

“I’m calling 911,” she adds.

The video cuts off as the girlfriend kneels over her loved one’s body, gently moving his arm that had been hanging over his face.

She held her gravely injured boyfriend in her arms before he was rushed to Kings County Hospital Center, but it was too late — as a stab wound had pierced his heart, according to cops and sources.

The horrific attack happened at Lafayette Ave and Malcolm X Boulevard, just blocks from the Bedford-Nostrand avenues train station, where the couple had gotten off the subway on their way home from the wedding, cops said.

No arrests had been made in the heinous crime by Tuesday on afternoon, but a “Wanted” poster circulated showing a close-up of the suspect wearing a black Champion sweatshirt.

Investigators have not recovered the murder weapon, which sources said the suspect initially tossed in a pile of trash before quickly going back to retrieve it.

A pair of glasses — apparently worn by the victim — and two books that Carson’s girlfriend appeared to have been carrying during the violent ordeal were found by investigators at the site of the attack.

Mr Carson — who came to New York from the Boston area in 2010 to attend Pratt Institute — was a senior solid waste campaign manager at the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), according to his LinkedIn.

His activism focused on sustainability and environmental policies, friends told The Post.

In a statement, NYPIRG called Mr Carson “a beloved staffer, colleague and friend, and a creative, talented, relentless and upbeat advocate for students and the environment”.

“His engaging personality, hearty laugh, and wide-ranging intelligence were keys to his success in advancing the causes he deeply cared about in his work and personal life,” the organisation said of their dedicated employee.

“Ryan was a consummate team player who would happily undertake the basic ‘blocking and tackling’ tasks necessary to advance and win on an issue, but also shined in the spotlight as a leader, campaign manager, and spokesperson.”

A roommate who declined to give his name told The Post 150 people attended a Monday night vigil for Mr Carson in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“At the vigil, we asked people, ‘Who here is a better person because of Ryan Carson?’” the roommate said on Tuesday.

“And almost everyone in that crowd raised their hand.”

When the roommate heard of Mr Carson’s death, he said, his thoughts immediately turned to those who would be impacted by the tragic loss.

“Who do I call? How do I let people know?” he said he thought.

But the alleged attacker hadn’t crossed his mind as much, he said.

“[The suspect] is the least important part of this conversation,” the roomie added. “I have no feelings of vengeance and I don’t think that’s healthy. I’m not angry about that.”

Another roommate and friend, Tom Krantz, 31, said on Monday that it was remarkable “how much [Carson] actually did for the entire city and for his friends.

“He’s really … like the epicentre of an entire community that he created, that he brought together.

“I don’t think anyone is exaggerating when they say he would give the shirt off his back,” the roommate added.

“He was the guy that bent over backward time and time again to be there with his friends.”

He once walked 500 miles (about 800km) across New York “to raise awareness to pass legislation for the institution of the first overdose prevention facility in the state,” said friend and former classmate Alex Harristhal, 29.

Mr Carson was also a published poet, who once penned a poem called Anxiety about fears over his own death — namely about the “inconvenience” his passing would cause others.

“That it could come while someone waits for me, that I couldn’t call to let them know I was held up,” he wrote in the poem.

Acadia Cutschall, 32 — who attended school with Mr Carson, volunteered with him, and called him her “best friend” — went to his stoop to mourn his death on Monday.

“I was present once when he literally talked a guy out of mugging him,” Ms Cutschall said. “He gave him some money.”

If Mr Carson had the opportunity, he may have even lent a hand to the man who took his life, according to Ms Cutschall.

“He would probably help out a guy like that,” she said.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission