‘Hard-working young man’: Police ID victim in East York homicide following ‘targeted’ stabbing

Toronto police are searching for a male suspect after a 27-year-old man was killed in a late-night stabbing in East York.

Investigators say they were called about an altercation behind a building just before 10 p.m. in the area of Donlands Avenue and Gamble Avenue, south of O’Connor Drive.

When they arrived, they found a male victim suffering from stab wounds without vital signs. The man, identified as Ahmed Hassan Asif, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene.

“[Asif] was a hard-working young man. He was an auto mechanic by trade, and he was very much loved by his family and his nieces,” said TPS Homicide Detective Sajeev Nair.

Police say the suspect, described as a Black male wearing all black, fled the scene on foot.

Det. Nair told reporters at the scene that yelling was heard in the area prior to the altercation and the fatal stabbing.

“I don’t believe that this was random,” he said.

A white vehicle that authorities say may have been driven by the suspect has been recovered, Nair said, and is believed to be connected to the homicide.

“We are coming for you,” said Det. Nair, addressing the wanted male.

The incident has left residents in the area on edge.

“I have children, so it’s pretty scary,” Andrew Peck tells CityNews. “My daughter could have been walking around the neighbourhood, and she might have become an accidental participant in something like that. It’s very scary.”

Peck adds that the neighbourhood is “normally quiet” and that the violence is unsettling.

“It’s a cliche, I know, but it’s still too close to home. I’m kind of freaked out about it a little bit.”