Police are looking for a single male suspect after a 22-year-old man was fatally stabbed outside a Toronto bar less than five hours into the new year.
The stabbing occurred at around 5 a.m. outside Randy's Sports Bar and Restaurant, which is located in a strip mall in the 4800 block of Keele Street, just south of Steeles Avenue West.
Friends drove the wounded man to Humber Finch hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“There was some sort of altercation outside the bar after close and we are looking for one suspect and another male he was in company with,” Det. Dean Burks told CP24 at the crime scene Tuesday afternoon. “At this point we have no information to suggest that the victim and the suspect knew each other prior to this incident happening.”
The suspect is described as brown skinned, between five-foot-seven to five-foot-eight with a stocky build and braided hair. He was last seen wearing a fitted white T-shirt, blue jeans and a white baseball cap.
The other man who was seen in the company of the suspect is described as a black male, approximately six-foot-two with a lanky build. He was last seen wearing a black zip up jacket with chest pockets, a black T-shirt and a black toque.
Police are asking anyone with information about the homicide to call investigators or Crime Stoppers.
“We have had very good cooperation so far from the owner and the employees at the bar as well as friends of the victim, but we are obviously also looking for Additional information from anyone else who was at Randy’s Sports Bar last night,” Burks told CP24.
Violent start to 2013
The stabbing is Toronto's first homicide of 2013 and at least the third violent incident to occur on New Year's Day.
Earlier Tuesday morning, two people were wounded in a shooting in a parking lot near Queens Quay and Jarvis Street at about 2 a.m.
After the shooting, the victims drove themselves to St. Michael's Hospital in a bullet-riddled car.
In an earlier incident, a man was stabbed on the CNE grounds at about midnight.
In 2012, there were 54 homicide victims in Toronto. Last year, the city's first homicide occurred about four hours into Jan. 1.
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