Family and friends of a 16-year-old Toronto boy murdered near his high school are mourning the loss as police continue to search for the killers and try to determine a motive.
Dineshkumar Murugiah, of North York, was stabbed in the stomach at lunchtime on Tuesday on a walkway leading to Winston Churchill Collegiate, in the city's east end. He later died in hospital.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Det. Sgt. Gary Grinton said a suspect got into an altercation with Murugiah while he was heading out for lunch with friends.
Investigators believe the suspect then fled the scene in a mid-1990s light-blue Honda Civic.
The ambush could have resulted from a simmering rivalry between two Tamil gangs, The Globe and Mail reports.
That feud is linked to a firebombing and a stabbing in the same neighbourhood in April, the newspaper reports.
Students said Wednesday they were afraid to return to the school grounds. Uniformed police officers were visible around school property and security has been elevated. Grief counsellors were also on hand to speak to students.
Principal Sheryl Freeman said she has received word that a number of students and parents are deeply concerned over the recent violence.
"I can appreciate that parents are worried, I'm a parent and I'd be worried too," Freeman said Wednesday.
Freeman, who has been at the school for eight years, including three as principal, told reporters there isn't a gang problem.
Friends and family of Murugiah, an only child, gathered Tuesday night to comfort each other.
"They are really in bad shape. His mother is crying; his parents are devastated," one relative told CTV News.
The teen had recently been transferred to Winston Churchill. Toronto District School Board Director of Education Gerry Connelley said Wednesday that the transfer was not due to behaviour problems as had been reported in the media.
"This student was not transferred from Marc Garneau (Collegiate). He changed residences and moved to this school," Connelley said.
The slaying comes just one week into the new school year and months after 15-year-old Jordan Manners was gunned down inside his high school.
Liberal Leader Dalton McGuinty on Wednesday said he doesn't want to see the "Americanization'' of Ontario schools with heavy security to protect students.
He said security measures such as metal detectors and uniformed security guards roaming the hallways -- which are in place in some U.S. cities -- should only be implemented "as an absolute last resort."
Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory on Tuesday said strong action must be taken to stop Toronto's youth violence.
Police described the main suspect as a male, 17 or 18 years old, 5-foot-5 and wearing black jeans, a black zip-up hoodie and a bandana covering his face.
It's not clear if any of the suspect or suspects attend Winston Churchill. During Wednesday's press conference, police wouldn't speculate on a motive or a possible cause for the initial confrontation.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or go online at www.222tips.com
With a report from CTV's Naomi Parness and files from The Canadian Press
