Toronto's sunny months of 2005 were once unfortunately dubbed the 'summer of the gun', while the warm days of 2008 could yet garner the dubious nickname 'summer of the knife.'
Four separate incidents in less than 24 hours beckoned police overnight and into Sunday, leaving no less than seven men seeking treatment for stab wounds with varying degrees of severity.
The latest happened Sunday evening just before 8pm in a plaza near
Islington and Rexdale and reportedly involved two men who had been arguing prior to the bloodshed.
"The guy started chasing him, caught him, stabbed him three times or four," one witness recalled.
I
t's believed the altercation led to the brandishing of the weapon and the victim was subsequently stabbed multiple times in the back.
Police are treating the violent exchange as an aggravated assault, while the victim (pictured) is reportedly in stable condition following surgery at Sunnybrook Hospital.
Several hours earlier, the first stabbing in the bloody series occurred at a house on
William Street near Jane and Lawrence around 3am.
Police were called to the home for a noise complaint and by the time they arrived a fight had broken out. An 18-year-old man was treated for chest wounds, while three other men turned up for medical help later on, all having been knifed in the back.
None of the injuries is believed to be life threatening and no arrests have been reported.
Around the same time, at a gas station on
Trethewey Drive near Jane Street, a man in his 40s was attacked with a blade and received two wounds in his back.
An ambulance rushed him to Sunnybrook Hospital, but his life was not in danger. Police are hoping the victim will shed some light on the event.
And horribly, there was more. A 28-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries overnight when he was stabbed in the neck near
Dawes and Danforth.
An 18-year-old has been charged in that alleged attack.
If you have information related to any of these incidents, call
Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222-TIPS.