Weston stabbing marks grim milestone
Toronto records 67th homicide this year, surpassing the total figure for all of 2017
A man in his 30s was stabbed to death in northwest Toronto early Friday, the city’s 67th killing this year.
The man’s death means Toronto has seen more homicides this year than in all of 2017.
Paramedics were dispatched to Weston Rd., south of Lawrence Ave. W., around 5 a.m. Friday. They found a man suffered multiple stab wounds.
He was rushed to a trauma centre with life-threatening injuries and died in hospital, paramedics said.
One person who witnessed the incident saw the victim get off a public transit bus before being involved in an altercation with the suspect, who then stabbed him multiple times.
The witness said the victim tried to run away but collapsed.
Police say they will release the victim’s identity once next of kin have been notified.
They have not released any suspect information.
With 67 confirmed homicides as of Friday, Toronto has also had more homicides by this date than in any year since 2004, according to police data.
The next highest year-to-date total came in 2007, which saw 56 homicides in Toronto by Aug 24.
That year ended with the highest homicide total in the last 15 years, at 86.
Another fatal incident Friday may become the city’s 68th homicide.
Police are investigating after a man in his 50s died following what police are calling an “altercation” between two men in Scarborough.
It happened in the area of Melham Crt. and Melford Dr. shortly before 1 p.m., and police are looking for a male suspect reported to have fled the scene.
Last week was a violent one.
It began with the stabbing death of 15-year-old Jack Meldrum near Sherway Gardens mall on Saturday.
Four other people — Elena Marcucci, 84, Jesse Graham-Richter, 22, Danny Morales, 35, and Jermaine George Titus, 32 — were killed in separate incidents across the city over a four-day period.
On Friday afternoon, police announced that a hit-and-run collision from Aug. 13 has been classified as a homicide.
That change came “after a lengthy investigation,” police spokesperson Katrina Arro- gante told the Star.
Police and found a 48-year-old man suffering from life-threatening injuries around 11 p.m. on Aug. 13. He later died in hospital.
Conflicting information was presented to police after the incident, with witnesses describing the sound of gunshots and a car speeding away from the scene.
“We were told that a couple of gunshots were heard and that a car was speeding away,” Const. David Hopkinson told the Star at that time of the initial incident.
“There was a person lying in the middle of the street. (The caller wasn’t) sure if the person had been struck by the car or if it was gunfire.”
Police later arrested Constantinos Hondrocostas, 40, of London.
He was charged with several counts, including manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death.
Police have not released the identity of the man who was killed, nor have they elaborated on the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Toronto’s deadly summer is “extremely concerning to me as mayor,” Mayor John Tory told reporters on Friday.
Tory noted his call for the fed- eral government to consider banning handgun sales in Toronto and investing money in youth programs, as well as provincial funding for police initiatives.
“I hope all will be helpful to make sure that we can keep our city safe” Tory said, noting he and other members of the police services board got a briefing Friday from Police Chief Mark Saunders on “a very effective program going on to try to get at the core of the people who are causing a lot of this.”
So far, 2018 has also seen a higher rate of gun deaths in Toronto than any year since 2004: 34 as of Friday.