A 13-year-old boy has been arrested after what police called a “sadistic and cowardly” stabbing that left a woman dead in Pickering, Ont., on Thursday.
Durham Regional Police said the boy was arrested without incident on Thursday night, about three hours after an emergency alert was issued urging nearby residents to shelter in place while officers searched for a suspect. Police said charges are pending.
The alert has since been lifted and there is no longer a danger to the public, police Chief Peter Moreira told reporters on Thursday night.
“I want to thank the members of our community for sheltering in place and doing exactly what we asked them to do,” Moreira said.
‘An unthinkable tragedy’: police chief
Earlier, police said an elderly woman was approached by a male unknown to her outside her home on Lynn Heights Drive near Fairport Road at about 3 p.m.
“After a brief interaction, the suspect stabbed the female in a sadistic and cowardly unprovoked attack that was captured on video,” Moreira said.
In a news release later, police said a passerby found the woman on the ground suffering from traumatic injuries. She was rushed to a Toronto area trauma centre, where she died of her injuries. Police have not released the victim’s age.
Through the video footage, police said they learned the woman was stabbed multiple times. The suspect fled on foot toward a wooded area before police arrived, they said.
Durham police notified the public about the killing through their social media channels, he said.
Then at about 5:40 p.m., Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) sent out an emergency alert on behalf of Durham police, saying officers were investigating a homicide suspect on Lynn Heights Drive and asking residents in the area to monitor the media for updates.
Moreira said the alert was intended for residents in the area of Lynn Heights Drive and Fairport Road, but that it is OPP protocol to extend an emergency alert beyond a requested area in the interests of public safely in case the suspect continues to flee.
Police said they carried out an extensive search of the area using a helicopter, canine unit, tactical support and the Toronto police and Ontario Provincial Police, before the boy was arrested at 8:30 p.m.
“To the family of the victim, our heart goes out to you. This is an unthinkable tragedy that should not have happened,” Moreira said.
‘We’ve never seen anything like this’: resident
Moreira said police do not yet know of a motive. The woman was “doing nothing but whatever one would do in front of their own home,” he said. He described the attack as “unimaginable.”
“She is not responsible at all for what has happened to her,” he said.
Resident Tyler Dunstan, who has lived in the area since 2010, said he came home around 3:30 p.m. to find several police cars in the area and asked an officer what happened.
Dunstan said he had seen the victim before.
“You always see her outside kind of gardening or kind of walking around… The whole neighbourhood is like that, just a lot of friendly people out and about.”
He called the news of the incident “terrifying.”
“We’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.
City of Pickering shut down all public facilities
Following the alert, the city of Pickering shut down all public facilities, including community centres and libraries.
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe said the city’s chief administrative officer and communications team made the decision to close public facilities without him but he was comfortable with the decision.
“It was prudent,” Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe told reporters on Thursday night.
He said it was it was “a bit unnerving” at the recreation centre because parents couldn’t get into the front door “but people acted in a respectful manner, understanding that this was an extraordinary event and hopefully one that’s not repeated anytime soon,” he said.
Ashe said the day was “shocking” for the city.
“We are a very safe community. So when something happens like this, it affects us as a community,” he said.
“Hopefully, we can put this tragic day in the rear view mirror. I want to offer, on behalf of all the residents of the city of Pickering, my deepest condolences to the victim and their family,” he said.
“When one part of our community is hurting, we all are hurting, and I offer my thoughts and prayers to that family who are going through a horrific time and being the recipient of senseless violence.”
