Eight teenage girls were charged with murder Tuesday in the stabbing death of a 59-year-old Toronto man in what police are calling a “swarming” attack.
The man was found stabbed on Sunday shortly after midnight in downtown Toronto. The man was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died. Authorities did not release the man’s name pending family notification.
Detective Sgt. Terry Browne of the Toronto Police Service Homicide Unit said during a news conference Tuesday. that the eight girls were found shortly after the attack and taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder.
The group of teenagers
met each other through social media. They come from varying parts of the city.
We don’t know how or why they met on that evening and why that destination was downtown Toronto.“
According to a news release from the Toronto Police, three of the girls are 13, three of them are 14, and two of them are 16.
Browne said the group may have been involved in an “altercation” earlier in the evening before the stabbing.
Browne said he did not call the group of girls a “gang” but noted they participated in a behavior known as “swarming,” where multiple attackers target a victim simultaneously.
A number of weapons were also found with the girls and three of the girls have had “prior contact” with police.
Eight girls — ages 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 14, 16 and 16 — charged with the stabbing murder of a homeless man.
— Ed Tubb (@EdTubb) December 20, 2022
I honestly cannot think of a case like this in this or any other city.
Absolutely jaw-dropping.https://t.co/FvWNneJs7P
(via CNN)
