Police are asking residents in Cabbagetown to check their properties for the knife that was used to kill Nighisti Semret, the Toronto woman who was attacked seemingly at random while walking home from work Tuesday morning.

Toronto Police are asking anyone who lives between Sherbourne Street and Ontario Street and between Carlton Street and Wellesley Street to check their properties for the knife.

Police are also asking homeowners or business owners in the same area who might have had outside security cameras, to check their surveillance tapes from the time between 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Tuesday for anything suspicious.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), online at 222tips.com,

Several officers spent Thursday canvassing residents in the downtown neighbourhood where she lived in hopes of gathering more information.

Police say several witnesses have already come forward, including a man who was able to confront an assailant brandishing a knife but was unable to stop him from fleeing.

While police continue their investigation, they say that Semret’s family members have now been contacted and notified of her death.

Const. Tony Vella says investigators contacted the woman's mother, brothers and children in Uganda late Wednesday.

Semret, a 55-year-old refugee from Eritrea and a mother of three, was attacked Tuesday while walking home from her job as a night cleaner at the Delta Chelsea Hotel on Gerrard Street East. Police do not believe that she knew her attacker.

Investigators have posted surveillance video from a nearby apartment building on YouTube in hopes of identifying the suspect. The video shows Semret being followed closely by the male suspect just prior to her death.

The suspect is described as a white male, about 5’10 to 6’2,, 150 to 200 pounds, with a medium build. Police say he was wearing a dark coat, a light-coloured scarf and a dark hat.

Police believe the man lives in, or spends much if his time in, the Cabbagetown or Regent Park area. Det. Gary Giroux also told reporters Wednesday it’s likely the suspect has committed criminal offences in the past.

“Somebody in the area knows who this person is,” he said. “This person has done this type of conduct before and, as a result of that, someone has a suspicion of who this is and we need to hear from them right away.”