TORONTO -- A 23-year-old man has been charged in connection with three incidents where liquefied fecal matter was poured on unsuspecting individuals on Toronto university campuses.
Here's what we know about the assaults:
Where the assaults happened
The first assault occurred on Nov. 22 at the University of Toronto’s Robarts Library.
The second incident occurred two days later in York University’s Scott Library. The university said in a statement that an unknown male entered the library and deposited fecal matter on a student who was seated at a table.
The third incident occurred late Monday night outside a University of Toronto building near College Street and University Avenue. Police said a man dumped a bucket of feces on a woman who was on the sidewalk before fleeing.
Police released photo of suspect
On Monday, police released a photo of a suspect in the first two assaults taken from surveillance camera footage. In the footage, the suspect appeared to be carrying a bucket with a handle.
The man was described as being in his 20s with a medium build. He was last seen wearing a black hat, blue top, light-coloured pants and black gloves.
The suspect in the third assault was described as a black male in his 30s with a medium build. He was wearing a yellow hard hat, a blue shirt and gloves.
On Tuesday, police released another photo of the suspect taken from an undisclosed surveillance camera.
What police are saying
Police previously said they believed the same person is responsible for all three assaults.
"All three have been done by the same description of person, " Toronto police Const. Victor Kwong said on Tuesday morning.
He said police are now working to confirm if the feces dumped in the three assaults is human waste.
"Last night we seized an orange bucket and that has been forensically tested."
On Tuesday night, police said that a suspect had been taken into custody in connection with all three incidents.
Samuel Opoku, of Toronto, has been charged with five counts of assault with a weapon and five counts of mischief interfering with property. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
What witnesses said they saw
A student at University of Toronto said she was in the library at the time of the first incident and will "never forget the smell."
"I thought it was coffee or something,” Kaylie, who did not provide her last name, said on Monday. "All of a sudden the smell hit."
"I thought I was going to faint. Me and my friends packed up our stuff and ran out of the room."
Tory calls behavior 'inexplicable'
Toronto Mayor John Tory told reporters on Tuesday that he hopes the public will help locate the suspect.
"I find this kind of behavior inexplicable, you just can’t understand why anyone would do this kind of thing," Tory said.
"This is a person, to me, that has some very serious issues. Most important is the person is tracked down."
