Fred Macpherson has been friends with David Blacquiere for the past 30 years, but that friendship tragically ended after Blacquiere was killed Tuesday.
He remembers him as a “hockey loving Canadian.”
“He was a great guy, a hard-working iron worker. He was the type of guy you didn’t have to figure out how he felt about something. He stuck up for himself and it looks like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Macpherson told CTV News Toronto.
Blacquiere, 54, and was an ironworker by trade and was a hockey referee at Chestwood Arena and played hockey himself.
“He was a competitor -- he loved to compete,” Macpherson added.
He died Tuesday after being stabbed multiple times outside of a drugstore on Weston Road near Lawrence Avenue. Police say the incident took place after Blacquiere got into an altercation with another man.
Paramedics performed CPR on him on the sidewalk when they arrived. He was then sent to a hospital where he died a short time later.
“It breaks my heart because he has children. I spoke to him on Tuesday,” said Macpherson.
Toronto police are looking for two men in connection to his death.
The main suspect is described as black, in his late 20s to early 30s, about 6-feet tall with a slim build and long curly hair. He was wearing all black clothing and a black toque.
The other suspect police are looking for is Demetrius McFarquhar, who police are alleging helped the main suspect flee the scene at 1999 Weston Rd and 2222 Weston Rd.
“He should turn himself in because you’re going to get caught anyways,” Macpherson said.
“But I wish David’s family and children all the best but I don't think much about the gentleman who did this.”
