TORONTO — A woman in her 70s was killed in what seemed to be an unprovoked stabbing as she was loading her groceries in a Toronto parking lot, police said Thursday.
The attack happened just after 9:30 a.m. in the area of Parkway Forest Drive and Sheppard Avenue East, at a commercial plaza near CF Fairview Mall in North York.
Duty Insp. Phil Sinclair said the woman appeared to be loading groceries into her car after shopping at the nearby supermarket when she was stabbed.
She was rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Sinclair said police believe the attack was unprovoked and the relationship between the victim and the suspect is unknown.
The male suspect, who investigators said wore a balaclava, fled the area on foot but police said there was no serious threat to public safety.
"We don't believe it's an ongoing major threat, but we do believe it is serious enough for us to keep searching throughout the entire day, and we will continue right into the evening," Sinclair told reporters.
The stabbing marked the city's second homicide near a shopping mall on Thursday, following an early-morning shooting that left a man dead near Yorkdale Mall.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025.
Natasha Baldin, The Canadian Press
