09/14/2025
My last post made reference to the recent stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska. She was fatally stabbed in an unprovoked attack on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. I just feel the need to say more about that…
Aside from the attack itself, the most horrifying thing I saw in the video was the apathy of the bystanders who witnessed the attack and did nothing. The image of that woman sitting there, scared, and dying on the train, while bystanders sat idly by and refused to even acknowledge her, is seared into my mind. Nobody came to help her. Nobody called 911 to alert authorities. Nobody held her hand or prayed with her as she died. She died alone, in a completely unprovoked attack, in a pool of her own blood, in a public place, and NOBODY came to help. That should NEVER happen to a fellow human being!
I started CFR Defense because there is a critical gap in our society between citizens and first responders. When a violent attack or a medical emergency occurs (in this case it was both), it is the citizens who are there to respond; who NEED to respond. These citizens failed to respond.
So why do some citizens fail to respond when things like this happen? This incident is a case study on many of the things I teach in the training I offer at CFR Defense. I will not speculate on why nobody helped Iryna Zarutska. I will offer some possible explanations though:
• Complacency- As hard as it is to believe, some people on that train might not have seen what happened. This is the result of a complete lack of situational awareness.
• Denial- Some people might have seen what happened, but they downplayed it and convinced themselves that it was not a serious situation. This is also called Normalcy Bias.
• Diffusion of Responsibility- This occurs when someone does not feel compelled to take necessary action, because there are other people (more qualified people?) there who could/should take action instead. This is closely related to the concept of social proof.
• Social Proof- Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon where people look to the behavior, actions, or opinions of others to decide what is correct or appropriate in a given situation. It’s basically the “if others are doing it, it must be right” mindset. This can guide people in uncertain situations, but it can also lead to dangerous inaction: “Since nobody else is helping Iryna, that must be the appropriate response.”
• Bystander Apathy- This is the most cynical and disturbing of possibilities. Bystander apathy which is a lack of willingness to help in an emergency or crisis, not because of confusion or shared responsibility, but because the bystander simply does not care enough to act. It reflects an indifference, callousness, or hardened heart toward the suffering of others. Whereas diffusion of responsibility is a psychological issue, bystander apathy is a moral issue.
• Lack of Preparedness- Another possible issue is that nobody helped because they were unprepared. They lacked the knowledge and skills to help, and didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know how to wound-pack a severe neck bleed. This may help explain why nobody offered medical assistance, but it does not explain why they wouldn’t even acknowledge Iryna and do what they could to comfort her.
I could go into great detail about each of these explanations, but I won’t do that here. The bottom line is that the bystanders in that train were not prepared for what happened. They failed Iryna. We, as citizens, need to do better for each other. In an emergency, the citizens are the true first responders.
That’s why, in my training, we emphasize preparation—not just physical skills but also the mindset required to overcome hesitation.
In my presentation, The Survivor’s Mindset, we talk about situational awareness, preparatory coping, cognitive pre-loading, staging everyday carry (EDC) equipment, and cognitive rehearsal.
We need Citizen First Responders to step up when it matters most.
So I leave you with these questions:
Are you prepared? Would you have taken action? Would you have known what to do?
