PICKERING — A 13-year-old boy has been arrested in what police called a "sadistic," unprovoked fatal attack on an elderly woman outside her home in Pickering, Ont.
Durham Regional Police announced the arrest Thursday night, hours after an emergency alert was issued warning nearby residents not to leave their homes while the search for the suspect was underway.
The shelter-in-place warning was lifted for the area east of Toronto after the arrest, as police said there's no longer a concern for public safety.
Police said the boy is from Pickering and that charges were pending.
Earlier Thursday, Durham Regional Police Chief Peter Moreira told reporters the woman was outside her home in the Fairport Road and Lynn Heights Drive area when an apparent stranger approached her just after 3 p.m.
"After a brief interaction, the suspect stabbed the female in a sadistic and cowardly unprovoked attack that was captured on video," he said.
Moreira said investigators believe the woman did not know her attacker. She was rushed to a Toronto-area trauma centre, where she died of her injuries.
The suspect, who was wearing a surgical mask and a long black skinny jacket, fled on foot, police said. They did not provide details about his arrest.
Moreira offered condolences to the victim's family, calling the attack an "unthinkable tragedy that should not have happened."
Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe offered his sympathies to the victim's family on social media and thanked police for "bringing this to a quick resolution."
In response to the emergency alert, the City of Pickering closed all public facilities and cancelled city-run programs and classes Thursday evening, but later said everything would resume as normal on Friday.
Victoria Bozinovski, a local councillor in the nearby town of Whitby, said the incident has shaken Durham Region.
"This senseless act raises painful questions: How did we get here? What systems failed? And how do we prevent this from happening again?" she wrote in a post on X. "This is heartbreaking on so many different fronts."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2025.
Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press
