CHARLOTTE — Police say the man who was seen on a viral video accosting people with a knife on a Charlotte light rail train has been arrested.
Channel 9 reported earlier this week when the video was spreading on social media. The video showed a man holding a knife and arguing with two people on a CATS Blue Line train.
One witness told Channel 9 that it all started when someone threw something they had in a cup at someone. The video shows a woman run up to try and break up the two men before the knife came out.
Later in the video, you can see the man holding the knife get off of the train. CATS said no one called police or security after the incident happened, but added that there were no reported injuries.
According to an affidavit obtained by Channel 9, police were notified of the viral video and got security camera footage from inside the train. The recordings showed that a man approached Hutchinson and they had a conversation before it turned into an argument. That’s when Hutchinson pulled out a knife and made stabbing motions toward the victims, police said.
An investigator with CMPD said one of his sergeants spoke with the suspect’s family member, who identified Hutchinson in the viral video. CMPD also found a comment posted under the video from someone saying they “knew the knife wielding subject as Dereck.”
On Friday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said that 36-year-old Derek Lamont Hutchinson was arrested late Thursday night after being found on a Blue Line train platform. Police said officers seized a knife during the arrest.
Hutchinson is facing charges of Going Armed to the Terror of the People, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Disorderly Conduct, Felony Possession of a Schedule I Controlled Substance, and Possession of Marijuana.
CMPD said Hutchinson was being held on a $40,000 bond.
CATS told Channel 9 they’re enhancing security in the transit system, soon. CATS is also looking into AI-safety technologies that could alert authorities about bad behaviors.
This comes in the wake of several high-profile knife incidents on CATS Blue Line trains, including the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
OTHER KNIFE INCIDENTS ON BLUE LINE:
- 9 Investigates: The Killing of Iryna Zarutska
- Suspect named after man stabbed in chest on light rail train in north Charlotte
©2026 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
