Toronto police are searching for a man considered “armed and dangerous” after a 60-year-old man was killed in what investigators say was a random attack early Thursday morning.
Police say a man was lying on a bench at the University of Toronto campus off Queen’s Park Crescent when another man approached him just before 5:30 a.m.
Surveillance video shows the suspect picking up some “debris” and assaulting the man without any warning or provocation before fleeing the area.
Emergency responders were called to the campus around 8:30 a.m. but despite life-saving measures, the man was pronounced dead. He has been identified as 60-year-old Mario Ferreira, who police say was an unhoused resident of Toronto and not affiliated with the university.
Police are searching for a man described as having a medium to large build, approximately 200 pounds with a black beard and black hair with short dreadlocks. He was last seen wearing a beige camouflage short-sleeved shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a black and blue backpack.
Investigators say he should be considered “armed and dangerous.”
This is the fifth homicide of the year.