American beaten to death outside Little Italy bar

Police appeal for witnesses after man kicked, punched in head numerous times

A 24-year-old man is dead following afight outside a Little Italy bar Saturday morning.

The fight occurred outside Blnd Tger, on College St. just west of Bathurst St., at about 2:25 a.m., according to a police statement released Saturday. Police are treating the death as a homicide. The man was punched and kicked in the head numerous times, Det. Rob North told CP24 in a television interview.

He was pronounced dead after being taken to hospital.

North said the victim was from the United States and had been at the bar celebrating a bachelor party with six to nine other men. Most of the men in the group were Americans, and one man was from Toronto. At least one of the men was a member of the U.S. armed forces.

The group left the bar at about 2:20 a.m. and were confronted by another group of seven to nine men in what North called an “unprovoked” attack.

After the attack the suspects fled south on Manning Ave.

The management of Blnd Tger expressed their condolences to the dead man’s family in an emailed statement from their lawyer, Adam Vassos.

“Although the incident did not occur inside of Blnd Tger, we are committed to assisting the police in any way that we can. We are providing our video surveillance to the police, in order to help expedite their investigation,” the statement read.

Police have released descriptions of two suspects.

One is described as a white male, 26 to 27 years old with a slim build, wearing a black shirt and black pants. The second is described as a black male, 26 to 27 years old, with a full beard, large, “built like a football player,” wearing a black shirt and black pants.

Police also said that a man in a red baseball cap was initially reported to be a suspect, but sent out a second release stating that he had been seen with the group that attacked the man and that they would like to talk to him.

Police are asking any witnesses to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416222-TIPS (8477), online at 222tips.com, or text TOR and your message to CRIMES (274637). With files from Alex Ballingall