Eight teenagers have been charged with murder on suspicion of fatally assaulting a 59-year-old homeless man in Toronto, eastern Canada, city police said Tuesday.
The 50-year-old man was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of youths, ages 13 to 16, late Saturday into Sunday, Sgt. Terry Browne said.
Little information has been released about the suspects other than that they would have met on social media.
“We don’t know how or why they met that night in downtown Toronto,” Terry Browne said.
“I wouldn’t describe them as a gang at this point,” he said, adding that five of them were not known to police.
Various weapons seized
The young women were detained shortly after the attack, near the scene, and several weapons were seized from them.
Police believe the defendants were involved in another violent altercation prior to the murder.
The man had recently been living in a homeless shelter in the Canadian megalopolis after a “difficult” period, while receiving support from his family, the detective said.
In Canada, girls are generally responsible for a minority of crimes, and boys are twice as likely to engage in violent behavior, according to government statistics.
Source: BFM TV
