An off-duty firefighter died from his injuries Monday after he was stabbed in the head inside an east-end café early Saturday morning.
Dominic Parker, 45, was rushed to St. Michael’s Hospital after police were called to Rotana café near Danforth and Coxwell avenues Saturday.
Police said in a news release that Parker was seated in the café when a man attacked him without provocation. Parker was stabbed multiple times in the head.
The suspect fled, but was apprehended by police a short distance from the scene.
Friends say Parker, a firefighter with Markham Fire, had just wrapped some commercial filming when the attack by the random stranger occurred.
Family friend Jay Michaels said the Beaches community where Parker lived is “numb” over the loss of a well-liked and caring man.
“He was there for everyone all the time and the whole community is just completely, completely devastated,” he said, adding there has been an endless stream of people visiting the family home.
Parker is survived by his wife and two daughters, who were in Montreal at the time of the incident.
A funeral is being planned for Friday morning with Parker’s firefighter colleagues, Michaels said a local memorial for Parker has been planned for Friday afternoon.
Nabil Huruy, 23, of Toronto, has been charged with first-degree murder.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Scott Lightfoot
