A young man is in police custody after a double stabbing in the parking lot of a mall in Mississauga Thursday afternoon.
Shortly before 2 p.m., Peel regional police received a call about a stabbing outside Erin Mills city center, near Erin Mills Parkway and Eglinton Avenue West.
Two male victims were rushed to a critically ill trauma center, Peel Regional Paramedic Services said. Police did not give their exact ages, but described them as young.
Since then, one of them has been upgraded to stable, police told CP24, while the other remains in critical condition. The victim is reportedly a promising rapper, one of his friends told CP24 on Thursday night.
Witnesses told police a suspect, described as a 15- to 17-year-old South Asian man wearing a black T-shirt and gray Nike pants, fled on foot. Police said Thursday evening they had a suspect in custody.
“We don’t know exactly the circumstances surrounding what happened, but we don’t believe there is any risk to public safety at this time,” Const said. Sarah Patten told CP24 at the scene.
He said it is still unclear whether the victims and the suspect knew each other or what could have motivated the stabbing.
“I understand the incident started on the school property and then got to that parking area,” Patten said.
Several pieces of clothing and what looked like a backpack could be seen between two vehicles on Thursday at the scene as police searched the area.
Police are asking anyone with information to come forward to investigators.
“We ask anyone with information to contact our 11th Division Criminal Investigation Office and, if you have video surveillance footage or table cameras, check it out,” Patten said.