Deadly core-area clash involved two men unknown to each other: London police

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London police say a 30-year-old is charged with second-degree murder after a man was stabbed by someone he didn’t know during an “altercation” just east of downtown.

It was shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday when London police say emergency crews were called to the intersection of Princess Avenue and Colborne Street following an “altercation” between two men. Police initially said a man in his 30s was arrested and an “older male” died in police custody.

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On Tuesday, police said 30-year-old Khamis Toto is charged with second-degree murder. Police did not name the person killed but noted “they were unknown to each other” – a fact they acknowledge is “concerning” to investigators and the community.

“It’s very concerning,” said acting Sgt. Matt Dawson. “Community safety is our No. 1 goal. When the investigation ensued, we were able to get (a suspect) into custody (quickly). Understanding there would be some safety concerns and community fears, I can tell you he was taken into custody very quickly.”

In the immediate aftermath of the stabbing, yellow police tape surrounded a property at the southwest corner of Princess and Colborne. The streets were blocked off by police vehicles.

A few blocks away, police blocked off Waterloo Street at Dufferin Avenue to traffic. There was yellow police tape around the basement window of a rooming house on the northwest corner of Waterloo and Queens Avenue.

Toto appeared in court on Monday and was held in custody, police said, adding that he’s next scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 11.

It was a hectic weekend of high-profile incidents for London police:

• Friday night, police announced that they were seeking the public’s help tracking down a man accused of attempted murder who had been “erroneously released” from custody following an appearance at the London courthouse. Roughly 24 hours later, police said Cody Anthony Leblanc Ashe had been arrested in Chatham.
• At about 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, police say they responded to multiple 911 calls about “a group of people fighting with weapons” in the area of Breton Park Crescent and Manitoulin Drive in east London. Two boys, ages 15 and 17, are charged with second-degree murder and a 27-year-old man is dead.
• The deadly clash at Princess and Colborne happened about 12 hours later mere blocks away from huge crowds at downtown’s Victoria Park during Ribfest.

In early January, a London man, Lee Couturier, 48, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman, 64-year-old Phy Puth, whose body was found in a Chippewa Drive home in east London. That was the city’s first homicide of 2025.

pmaloney@postmedia.com