“Maybe these were eight young women that wanted to make a name for themselves and see if they could become socially famous,” he said.
Police believe they acted in concert.
“They are all equally culpable,” he said. “There is no doubt in our minds that they were all working as a singular entity in a swarming mob mentality when they chose to attack this man.”
Swarming is defined by the US Justice Department as “the unexpected gathering of large numbers of people in particular public locales. It may or may not involve violence but it does involve large crowds that have the capacity to transform into mobs.”
He said a number of weapons were seized, but he declined to say what kind. He also said three of the girls had prior encounters with the police.
“It’s bizarre that they would all have hooked up together and found their way to downtown Toronto. Their primary residences are all over the place,” he said.
Loading
Browne said police spoke to the parents of the teens.
“I can tell you it was a shock to find out that their children were involved in an event like this,” he said.
Canadian authorities can’t release the girls’ names by law because they’re underage.
They have made their first court appearance and remain in custody. The next court appearance is December 29.
Browne said the victim started living in Toronto’s shelter system in September. He said they haven’t been able to reach certain family members and until they do, they woudn’t release his name.
“He does have a very supportive family in the area so I wouldn’t necessarily call him homeless. Maybe just recently on some hard luck,” he said.
Browne said they were asking anyone who saw the group of teens that night to contact police.
He said 20 or 30 years ago in Toronto young teen boys would swarm others and try to steal Dr Martens boots or Air Jordan shoes for a time but said that had faded away.
“Has this happened recently that we are not aware of? Have people been posting this stuff online that we weren’t aware of?” he said. “It’s something that we are going to try to find out.”
AP
