What Demons Motivated Them?

"[The man] wasn't bothering a soul [when the girls] attacked this guy like a bunch of wild animals."

"He tried to fight them off and they just kept coming back."

"The most they're going to get is around three years ... maybe."

"But the most chilling thing about all this is that he meant nothing to them."

Unidentified police detective

"I wouldn't describe them as a gang at this point, but what is alleged to have occurred that evening would be consistent with what we traditionally call a swarming."

"We don't know how or why they met on that evening, or why the destination was downtown Toronto."

"We have information to believe that this same group of eight young women were involved in an altercation earlier, before becoming involved in this altercation."

"If you were a victim or had contact with these individuals, we'd like to hear from you."

"I think they would be easily identifiable because these two interactions involved what would be described as criminal behaviour."

"He does have a very supportive family in the area, so I would not necessarily call him homeless, maybe just recently on some hard luck." 

"I can't recall a situation where eight females have been involved in something like this."

"All eight were together. All eight were involved. I won't say what each one individually did, but all eight were together and participating in this event, which is disturbing."

Det.Sgt. Terry Browne, Toronto Police

An alleged "swarming" attack in Toronto that left a 59-year-old man dead has heightened concerns for those who are homeless as police reveal more details about the night of the attack. Eight teen girls are facing second-degree murder charges.

Frankly, it might just be more accurate to mention that there were onlookers who described what had occurred from their perspetive. And the most chilling thing is that no one appears to have intervened in the assault that saw eight girls ... it's gilding the lily somewhat to speak of them as women ... three aged 13, three of 14 years of age, and two who were 16 who assembled themselves as a violent threat to the life of a man who was a complete stranger to them, but accessible because he was on the street. 

The 'altercation' appears to have begun when one of the girls attempted to grab a bottle of alcohol from a young woman who was sharing the bottle with the man. Anyone's natural instinct would be to hold on to what is theirs, and he undoubtedly, taken by surprise, told the girl to leave them alone, resisted, firmly holding back the bottle of alcohol. Alcohol is a comfort blanket, someone down on their luck and using the influence of alcohol on brain and mind to drown a mental state of ruin looking for oblivion.

Little would he have known that his situation was about to get a whole lot worse. The single approach of one girl to snatch alcohol from a stranger quickly escalated to all eight girls descending on him, as the man's companion made herself scarce. They set about pummeling, pounding, kicking, shoving, smacking -- and knifing the man. Who attempted to defend himself to the point of temporary retreat followed by fresh onslaughts. This much was reported to responding police by witnesses.

 

The deadly attack happened near the corner of York Street and University Avenue in Toronto. (CBC)

The down-on-his-luck man was 59, and the situation he found himself in accelerated to the point where he would never see his 60th birthday. Stabbed to death in downtown Toronto on a Sunday night after the witching hour at a plaza not far from Union Station, at York and University Avenue. When, shortly after the attack emergency services arrived flagged down by bystanders, the badly injured man was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead..

Dead, at the flailing, pounding, knifing hands of three 13-year-olds, three 14-year-olds, and two 16-year-old girls out on the town looking for some excitement. A mob of bored girls out to prove something to themselves. All eight were rounded up not far from the scene of the incident that left a man dead by furious Valkyries. Inf act, when they wee apprehended they had initiated another 'incident'. They are all juveniles and as such their identities protected under Canadian law. Taken into custody they have been charged singly with second-degree murder.

Minors they may be all, but three of them had had previous contact with police. The eight girls came from different parts of the city. They had 'met' on the Internet. It is assumed that this occasion when they met in person at an assigned spot in Toronto was the first time they had physically been in one another's company. During their arrest, police confiscated weapons in their possession. The man whose life they took was a Toronto resident who had been living in emergency shelters of late.

The following morning, Sunday, saw the girls' first appearance in court when they were remanded into custody as protected minors who had just viciously committed manslaughter. This had not been their first encounter of their evening out. There had been an earlier incident involving someone else whom they intimidated and victimized but not yet committed themselves to the ultimate human act of criminal malfeasance. The mind wanders to questions about these girls' parents and their life circumstances...

 

The swarming incident took place steps away from Union Station in downtown Toronto. (Patrick Morrell/CBC)

The issue of public 'swarmings' has recently arisen as a social problem and warnings by police have gone out generally for people to be aware. A "significant volume of swarming-style robberies" had convinced police to warn the public. "In all of these incidents, victims reported being swarmed and robbed by a large group of young people in the evening hours", police in nearby Vaughan had reported. Is it too damning to suggest that society has failed in its nurturing of the young, in not instilling in them respect for society in general, and above all, for human life?