A 23-year old Birch Cliff man was stabbed multiple times with a broken beer bottle last night and is recovering in hospital from what police say are serious but non life-threatening injuries.
Stabbing on Birchcliff Ave., south of Kingston Road
The attack took place at 3:30am on Saturday on Birchcliff Avenue south of Kingston Road.
Attackers bragged about stabbing
According to eyewitnesses, the victim was stabbed by teenagers, who looked about 18-20 years old, and bragged about the attack as they walked away from the victim.
A witness who has asked not to be identified said: “I just remember one saying ‘Wow, we just stabbed a guy like six times!’”
“They were proud. They were really happy with what they did. They had no remorse. They didn’t really care at all. They were more happy than anything,” the witness said.
Scene of stabbing
Victim lying in pools of blood
The witness said he and three friends were on their way home from the Beaches Jazz Festival when they heard a commotion on Birchcliff Avenue and went to investigate.
They found the victim lying in several pools of blood next to his house, with his girfriend beside him trying to help.
“She was covered in blood trying to help him. He was just pouring out blood from each side, two on the right and one on the left . I was applying pressure to the wounds with a T-shirt and I just called the ambulance, called 911,” the witness said.
Victim didn’t know attackers
The witness said the victim was unable to tell him what happened because he was “huffing and panting and fading in and out”.
He did manage to say that he didn’t know his attackers.
Victim being transported to hospital
The witness described the victim and his girlfriend as the “least intimidating people ever” and said he can’t imagine why anyone would start a problem with them:
“He’s a quiet guy. He has a girfriend. He’s a pretty content guy. He just does his own thing. I don’t know if it was just a case of wrong place
wrong time, or something that might have transpired someplace else and they followed him back.”
Birchcliff Avenue, south of Kingston Road is a pretty, dead-end street on the Scarborough Bluffs, but there is no access to the Bluffs.
Birchcliff Avenue
“I was shocked to come out this morning and see police tape,” one neighbour said. “It’s a shock, you don’t expect to see this in your neighbourhood. It’s frightening. Not much regard for life, it seems.”
The witness said he’s never seen the suspects before and they didn’t look like they were from Birch Cliff.
Police say no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
After an event at Legion 13 on July 15th…I was going to walk back to my Mom’s (2 blocks)…others there told me the neighbourhood wasn’t safe anymore. I didn’t believe them…so another couple walked with me…I guess they were all right. How sad. I hope this man recovers quickly and that the Toronto Police catch this gang of thugs and treat them justly. Jail time is imperative to stop this behaviour.
I was shocked when I heard the news Carroll. Personally, I tend to think the neighbourhood is still pretty safe, but I’m not generally out and about near Kingston Road in the middle of the night, which is when this stabbing happened. I’d be curious to know what other people think. Maybe if they read your comment others can let us know.