Deadly London fight had 'knives, sledgehammers, golf clubs' — witness
London police responded to two separate homicides Sunday, with murder charges levied in each case.
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By: Beatriz Baleeiro
LONDON, ONT. — As many as six males were fighting with “knives, sledgehammers and golf clubs” on a street in southeast London when one of them was fatally stabbed, a witness said.
London police said officers responded to multiple 911 calls shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday about “a group of people fighting with weapons” in the area of Breton Park Crescent and Manitoulin Drive in the Fairmont subdivision north of Hamilton Road and east of Highbury Avenue.
A 27-year-old man suffering from life-threatening injuries was taken to hospital where he died, police said Tuesday. The man was not identified by police and the cause of his death wasn’t disclosed.
Two boys, ages 15 and 17, are charged with second-degree murder, police said. They cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Both teens remained in custody with scheduled London courtroom appearances, police said.
It was the second deadly confrontation on London streets that day leading to policing laying murder charges.
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A nearby resident said she woke up around 1 a.m. Sunday to the sound of screaming on Manitoulin Drive.
“I heard screaming and yelling, and my dog barked constantly,” said the woman, who did not want to be identified.
She said she looked out her window and saw four to six males arguing and fighting in the street.
“They were swinging knives, sledgehammers, golf clubs — everything. They were hitting each other until the police came,” the woman said.
She said she saw an injured male stumble from the corner of Tweedsmuir Avenue and Manitoulin Drive toward Breton Park Crescent, where he collapsed in a driveway.
The group of males continued fighting with weapons and chasing each other up and down Manitoulin Drive, she said.
“I’ve lived here for over 10 years and we’ve never had a problem,” the woman said.
Another neighbour, who also didn’t want to be identified due to safety concerns, said she heard the sound of a driver revving a car early that morning. The car left about 15 minutes later, the woman said.
She said she saw a group of young males gathered at the intersection of Tweedsmuir Avenue and Manitoulin Drive.
“There were some young guys at the stop sign. . . One of the guys at the corner had a knife. He’s standing there like wielding (the knife) . . . and talking. And I could just hear yelling, but I didn’t know what they were saying.”
“They were egging each other on,” she said.
The woman said the man eventually got out of the car and the confrontation didn’t immediately turn physical.
The man called someone for help, and another man came out of a house and began filming, the woman said. A second man arrived with golf clubs, she said.
“It (the situation) got carried away and the guy got stabbed, and the others ran when the cops came,” the woman said.
About 10 police cruisers arrived within five minutes of her 911 call, she said.
The man who was stabbed walked to Breton Park Crescent, the woman said.
The homeowner, a woman in her 30s, said was away at the time.
The owner, who didn’t want to be identified, said police called her around 9 a.m. Monday to say her home was part of a crime scene.
When the woman returned, she said she found footprints and blood on her door and driveway.
“He ran up the grass and knocked on the door, maybe trying to get help or hide,” she said.
Another neighbour across the street captured the incident on video, the woman said.
“I didn’t know what to expect when I came home. Luckily, we weren’t there because that would’ve been very traumatic. There are a lot of what-ifs. What if we were home? Could we have helped sooner? I don’t know.”
Investigators are asking anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity, heard anything unusual, or may have residential or business video surveillance or dashcam footage from the area between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Aug. 3 to contact London police at 519-661-5670 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
“Even the smallest piece of information could be vital to this investigation,” police said, noting the investigation was ongoing.
The case marks one of two deadly incidents in London in a single day. About 12 hours later on Sunday, at approximately 1 p.m., London police said officers were called to the intersection of Princess Avenue and Colborne Street following an altercation between two men.
Insp. Jeff Ordronneau said a man in his 30s was in police custody and that an “older male” died in hospital.
Yellow police tape surrounded a property at the southwest corner of Princess and Colborne. A few blocks away, there was yellow police tape around the basement window of a rooming house on the northwest corner of Waterloo Street and Queens Avenue.
On Tuesday afternoon, London police announced a 30-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder, though there were no details made public about the victim.
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