Man, 25, dies following violent midtown robbery
Latest in a series of apparently unprovoked attacks in Toronto
Just a few feet from the car, at the end of a night out with friends, a 25-year-old man was killed early Wednesday in an apparently unprovoked, random attack.
In what police are calling a “very brazen robbery,” Zaher Noureddine was approached by three suspects after leaving a bar near Yonge St. and Lola Rd., just south of Eglinton Ave. W., according to Toronto police homicide Det. Jeff Allington.
“The area around here, although it is fairly dark, it is well travelled,” Allington said. “I would certainly say he was targeted, in that the people that robbed him chose him over any other number of people walking down the road.”
Police were called just after midnight after reports of a fight. They arrived within minutes to find Noureddine “in medical distress.” He later died in hospital.
Allington would not comment on the cause of death but did say no weapons appeared to be used.
He said police believe the attack may be linked to another robbery in the area, at Bayview Ave. and Hillsdale Ave. E., earlier in the evening, but would not say why they believe there is a connection.
Chris, who declined to give his last name, worked alongside Noureddine as a salesman in a nearby office.
“(He was) quite an individual. Very expressive. Truthful. One of the best guys you could ever meet and hope to meet in your life type of individual. Who was pretty much just having a beer across the street when this happened,” he said.
“(It’s a) constant reminder that you can’t even walk down Yonge St. without possibly dying, which is a little bit much to think about.”
Neighbours apparently slept through the incident, and patrons at the St. Louis Bar and Grill didn’t hear any commotion until an ambulance arrived on scene.
“If something happened, it must have been subtle,” said Jeremy Ramirez, who was in the bar during the incident.
It is the 56th homicide of 2015 and the latest in an apparent string of random, unprovoked attacks.
Rosemarie Junor, 28, died after an unprovoked stabbing in a downtown Shoppers Drug Mart on Dec. 11. Days later, cancer researcher Mark Ernsting was stabbed to death in a possible robbery gone wrong. And just a few days before Christmas, a seemingly unprovoked machete attack near the Eaton Centre sent one man to hospital with serious injuries.
Allington credited the co-operation of witnesses in those incidents for arrests in all three cases.
Appealing for security and dashcam footage from drivers and businesses in the areas near both crime scenes, he said witnesses so far have been co-operative.
“I’m hoping that will be the case here, that people will step forward and assist us with video and we’ll go from there,” Allington said.
Police are seeking three male suspects in dark clothing seen fleeing in a lightcoloured four-door sedan.