A 56-year-old Toronto man has been identified as the victim of a weekend stabbing at an Etobicoke plaza.
Toronto police say a fight broke out between two males on Saturday afternoon in the parking lot of a grocery store in the Martin Grove Road and Finch Avenue area.
Police and paramedics arrived to find a man suffering from multiple stab wounds. They attempted to resuscitate him on the sidewalk near the store before rushing him to hospital in critical condition.
The man, identified on Tuesday as Winston Freckleton, died a short time later.
Officers patrolling the area witnessed the suspect take off after the fight and were able to make an arrest nearby.
A suspect identified as 30-year-old Joseph Wittick, of Toronto, has been charged with first-degree murder.
Witnesses at the scene that afternoon told CTV News Toronto that it appeared the victim wasn’t breathing by the time help arrived.
“The way his body was, he wasn’t breathing from what I could see,” one shopper said. “He just looked lifeless. It was crazy.”
The violent daytime stabbing was one of several fatal incidents that rocked the city over the weekend.
Four people were killed in three separate shootings on Sunday alone. A 41-year-old man was also shot dead early Monday morning.
Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said that residents should “be alert,” but he believes most of the incidents stem from street gang activity.
He added that the deaths have “taxed” the homicide squad.
Investigators are still appealing to witnesses and ask anyone with information to call Toronto police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.
