A 12-year-old boy and a 20-year-old man are facing charges including second-degree murder after a homeless man died as a result of several violent attacks on people in Toronto’s downtown core, police said Monday.
Toronto police Det. Sgt. Stacey McCabe said the attacks targeted vulnerable people and took place between 5:45 a.m. and 8:07 a.m. on Aug. 31.
“The was a disturbing crime spree,” she said. “All of these attacks were extremely violent and they targeted vulnerable members of our city.”
She said the accused – one of whom was armed with a hammer – approached a homeless man in the area of Yonge and Dundas streets and began beating him. When that victim escaped, the accused moved on and assaulted another homeless man who was later taken to hospital.
McCabe said the two accused continued walking to Nathan Philips Square, where they attacked a 62-year-old homeless man who was sleeping on a bench. That man was taken to hospital and later released, but he was found dead due to his injures on Sept. 4.
Police said the accused also pushed an old man to the ground after taking his phone and slapped a phone out of the hand of another man on the same morning before they were arrested by two police officers.
McCabe said police have learned that more people may have been approached by the accused and that others may have witnessed the attacks. Investigators are asking anyone with information to contact them.
Toronto police Deputy Chief Robert Johnson said the fact that one of the accused is only 12 years old is very concerning.
“This is really a call to action with all our community partners to make sure that we find a way to intervene when young people are involved with these types of horrendous crimes,” he said.
Johnson said there has been a worrying trend of young people charged “with carjackings, home invasions – all types of serious crime.”
“It is concerning,” he said.