‘Unimaginable tragedy’: Mass. high school mourning death of graduate who was fatally stabbed in NYC

BROCKTON, Mass. — A Massachusetts high school community is mourning the death of a beloved graduate who was fatally stabbed in New York City earlier this week.

Ryan Carson, a Brooklyn resident who graduated from Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton in 2010, died Monday from injuries he suffered in an early morning stabbing, school officials and investigators said.

“He had a large personality,” said Deacon Joe Nickley, the Chaplin at Cardinal Spellman. “He was always laughing, joking.”

“The Spellman community mourns the loss of Ryan Carson,” school President Daniel J. Hodes said in a statement. “Ryan is remembered as a beloved and active member of our school community throughout his high school years. May God be with his family and friends as they deal with this unimaginable tragedy.”

Officers responding to a 911 call for a stabbing in the area of Lafayette Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard just before 4 a.m. found Carson suffering from multiple stab wounds to his chest, according to the New York City Police Department.

Carson, a native of East Bridgewater, was rushed to NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County, where he was pronounced dead.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Carson was waiting at a bus stop with his girlfriend after leaving a wedding when he was approached by a man who had been kicking scooters, CNN reported. That man was later identified as 18-year-old Brian Dowling, who is charged with murder in Carson’s death.

Suspect arrested in NYC stabbing that left Mass. man dead WABC via CNN

“What are you looking at?” Dowling said to Carson, who tried to de-escalate the situation before he was stabbed three times, Kenny said.

The brazen attack was caught on surveillance video.

“Chill. Chill,” Carson is heard telling Dowling in the video before he was stabbed.

Video captures fatal NYC stabbing of Mass. high school graduate

Carson was employed by the non-profit New York Public Interest Research Group, according to CNN. In a statement shared with the news outlet, the non-profit remembered Carson as “a beloved staffer, colleague and friend, and a creative, talented, relentless and upbeat advocate for students and the environment.”

Carson was also well-known in political circles. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Carson “advocated tirelessly for others” and this “his giving spirit was a buoy to all.”

Carson’s family is establishing a scholarship fund in his name, according to officials at Cardinal Spellman. Donations can be made to the school in loving memory of Ryan.

“We teach [students] that there are other people that we should we helping and then we tell them to take it out into the world, and of course Ryan did that,” said Nickley.

Dowling was arraigned Thursday in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

An investigation remains ongoing.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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