4 days ago
14-year-old boy charged with first-degree murder in random Pickering stabbing
The 14-year-old suspect in Thursday's fatal stabbing in Pickering has been charged with first-degree murder, a court heard Friday morning. The incident spurred a massive local manhunt and a shelter-in-place warning for residents.
Around 3 p.m. on Lynn Heights Drive, the elderly victim was in front of her home when a male approached and stabbed her repeatedly, police said. A passerby found her and she was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead. The suspect was arrested 'without incident' after what investigators called an 'extensive search' around 8:30 p.m., officials said in a news release late Friday morning.
Acting staff Sgt. Joanne McCabe told media at the scene on Friday morning that police are looking into reports from residents that the suspect was prowling homes in the area in the weeks leading up to the incident.
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'This is something that I think ... is going to impact this community for a very long time,' McCabe told reporters at the scene.
The attack appears to be random, noting that the boy and the victim had brief chat before she was fatally stabbed, McCabe said.
'What that conversation was will also be part of the investigation,' she said.
Gta
Pickering stabbing: Mayor shocked by 'so much hate' after 13-year-old boy is arrested in Durham homicide
Arrest of boy Thursday evening ends an intense police search following the death of a Pickering
On Thursday evening at the scene, Durham police Chief Peter Moreira called the incident a 'sadistic and cowardly, unprovoked attack that was captured on video.'
'I worked in homicide for a long time, and I can tell you that an unprovoked attack like this is just unimaginable.'
Moreira declined to comment further on the details of the arrest, saying the investigation is still in its early stages. Police have not publicly stated whether there was a relationship between the victim and suspect, adding the victim's name is being withheld at her family's request.
The suspect's identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
The apparently random nature of the fatal stabbing pushed Durham officers to take 'unusual steps,' Moreira added, including deploying the OPP Alert Ready service. Although the shelter-in-place was only intended for the people in the immediate area, the alert was received on cellphones elsewhere in the GTA.
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McCabe said on Friday investigative work is done before emergency alerts are deployed, and police 'understand the fear that they may cause.'
'We don't release them lightly,' she added.
Durham Regional Police investigate a murder near the intersection of Fairport and Lynn Heights in Pickering.
Steve Russell/ Toronto Star
The city of Pickering cancelled all evening activities and classes in the wake of the attack, but after the suspect was arrested, locals were told they could go back to their activities.
'I'm shocked that a person so young has so much hate in them,' Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe told reporters at the scene Thursday.
Ashe added the boy was affected by the 'burden of mental health.'
Police previously reported the suspect was 13 years old.
More to come
