Second-degree murder charges laid in Wasaga Beach stabbing
Ontario Provincial Police have charged two men with second-degree murder in a deadly weekend stabbing in Wasaga Beach.
Police say 23-year-old Mustafa Khaleel was found dead on Beach Area 1 at about 12:40 a.m Sunday.
A 21-year-old Toronto man and a 25-year-old Brampton man are charged with Khaleel’s death and have been remanded into custody. Police say they are withholding the suspect’s names to protect the integrity of the investigation.
Det.-Inst. Martin Graham says there’s no evidence Khaleel knew his alleged killers before the weekend but says the violence was not random.
“It seems to have occurred between two groups of people that happened to be on the beach late on the evening of Saturday into Sunday,” Graham explains.
Police say there were as many as 30 people on the beach at the time. It’s unclear how many of them may have been involved in the fight and how many were bystanders.
Two other people were hurt in the brawl. While they weren’t stabbed, their injuries were serious enough for trips to the hospital. They were treated and released.
Police have some sense of what was behind the confrontation but are not sharing that information.
A number of people who own and work at businesses near the beachfront describe the weekend violence as rare but not a surprise.
Shawn Harris, manager at the Shore Store, has noticed a change the last two summers. He says fewer families are settling in for a day in the sun, and more younger visitors are getting a little too loose.
“They come, they make a bunch of mistakes, they tear things up, and then they leave,” Harris says. “It’s an amusement park here. But it’s become more volatile.”
Harris and employees at other local businesses believe hostility pent-up during the pandemic may be driving some of the rowdyism.
Harris describes clashes over COVID-19 protocols on the sand.
Several business owners feel an increased presence from OPP or bylaw officers could bring down the temperature.
“Just showing their presence for five-ten minutes—‘we’re here, please don’t destroy our stuff. This is our hometown’,” Harris says.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.