'A protracted altercation': Toronto police investigating homicide in Corso Italia

A 21-year-old man is dead after an altercation involving no less than five people broke out in Toronto’s Corso Italia neighbourhood overnight, police say.

Officers were called to the intersection of St. Clair and Nairn avenues, just east of Lansdowne Avenue, shortly before 3 a.m. for a report of an injured person, police said.

When officers arrived at the scene, they located a male victim who was suffering from “obvious” signs of injury. He was rushed to hospital and later pronounced dead.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday afternoon, Det. Sgt. Brandon Price of Toronto police’s Homicide and Missing Person Unit, said it appears the victim was stabbed during what he described as a “protracted altercation.”

Price noted that there are several bars in the area and investigators are working to determine if the incident began in one of those establishments before it spilled out onto the street.

He said at least five people were involved.

“A protracted altercation like this, there’s not only, necessarily, one injured party. So, we know that there’s numerous people involved, so there could be other injured parties.”

Det. Sgt. Brandon Price, of Toronto police's Homicide and Missing Persons Unit, speaks to reporters after a deadly altercation in the city's Corso Italia neighbourhood on Dec. 21, 2024.

Price said he is looking to speak with the “numerous” witnesses who were in the area at the time, noting that some may have fled the scene.

No suspect description has been released at this point and Price couldn’t say what triggered the altercation.

The identity of the deceased has not yet been released. Price said this is the city’s 84th homicide of 2024.