Man stabbed in Ashbridges Bay Park shortly after city's Victoria Day fireworks display

A man is in hospital with serious injuries after being stabbed in the back during a fight in the Ashbridges Bay Park area about 45 minutes after the City of Toronto's Victoria Day fireworks display ended.

Police are investigating after a person was stabbed in a fight after the Victoria Day fireworks display at Ashbridges Bay Park on the night of Monday, May 23.

The stabbing was reported to police shortly after 11 p.m. The City of Toronto’s fireworks display took place at 10 p.m. last night and took about 15 minutes.

The stabbing victim was reported to have been stabbed twice in the back in the fight. He was taken to hospital for treatment and is reported to be in serious but stable condition.

Huge crowds were on hand for last night’s fireworks display, the first one officially held by the city since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

There was also a very large police presence in the area of Ashbridges Bay Park, Woodbine Beach Park and surrounding area after a night of violence on Sunday, May 22 and into the morning of May 23.

On Monday, prior to the fireworks display, police said there would be a large presence of officers and city bylaw officials in the area in order to avoid the previous night’s violence.

On Sunday night, police said two people were shot, one person was stabbed and two other people were robbed at gunpoint in the Woodbine Beach Park area. Also, seven police officers were injured on Sunday night, including one officer with a broken leg, and approximately 17 people were arrested. Many of the incidents on Sunday night involved people shooting fireworks at each other and that was the cause of six police officers’ injuries.

See our story on Sunday night’s incidents at https://beachmetro.com/2022/05/23/1-shooting-1-stabbing-2-reported-robberies-at-gunpoint-and-multiple-arrests-at-woodbine-beach-and-ashbridges-bay/

Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford issued a statement on Monday, in advance of that night’s city fireworks display, on what had happened in the area on Sunday.

“The lawless behaviour we saw last night (Sunday), both north and south of Lakeshore, goes far beyond what our community has been planning for together, and flies in the face of the positive spirit our community extends to visitors,” he said.

“We’re a welcoming community – and the vast majority of visitors have been joining us in that spirit of togetherness and respect. The scenes we witnessed from a small group of bad actors last night weren’t just reckless, they were incredibly dangerous – and need to be pursued with the full weight of the laws we have in place to address these types of criminal offences.

“To be clear, there was a heightened presence of officers and equipment on site last night. More than 17 arrests were made, and officers, including 7 who sustained injuries last night, were able to contain the crowd as best they could. Like all of you, I’ve asked why we weren’t better prepared to deal with this. It was explained to me that this party originated and escalated on social media, providing little notice to law enforcement to marshal the resources necessary from across the city. Going forward, I have reiterated that we need to better anticipate these types of social media planned events likely to take place on long weekends, and our enforcement measures should prepare for them accordingly.”

The Victoria Day long weekend in 2021, when there was no city fireworks display, also saw violence and unruly behaviour by large crowds at Woodbine Beach — much of that also believed to been the result of unofficial events organized through social media.

Anyone with information about the shooting and stabbings on May 22 and May 23 is asked to contact police at 416-808-5500, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-8477, or at www.222tips.com

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