Toronto police have arrested a man suspected of random attacks on strangers at the Kennedy subway station.
Police thanked the public for their assistance in leading to the arrest of Brandonn Sevilla-Zelaya, a 25-year old Toronto man.
A man fitting that description approached a male passenger at about 10 p.m. and started punching him, unprovoked. At approximately 11 p.m. that same evening, the same “man approached and began attacking a female passenger by shaking her, unprovoked,” the news release said, noting that the man threatened the woman, robbed her of her headphones, and then fled.
Dec. 17 was the second anniversary of the Transit Worker Assault Awareness Day, which Toronto Mayor John Tory first declared in 2021.
Toronto has video surveillance on all vehicles and in stations and supports criminal prosecution against those charged with criminal acts, said the statement.
“The TTC works closely with Toronto Police Services on any violent incident that occurs on the transit system, including those against customers,” said the TTC.
Neng Jia Jin, 52, was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection with the incident.
In April, a woman was arrested for allegedly pushing another woman onto the subway tracks at the Bloor-Yonge station and leaving her seriously injured in the fall. The same month a man was shot and killed outside Sherbourne station and another was stabbed on the St. George subway platform.
In June, a man was shot dead outside the Sheppard-Yonge station. At the Kipling station, a woman was lit on fire aboard a TTC bus and later died from the apparently random attack. Three weeks later, an 85-year-old woman was also assaulted at the Kipling station.
Toronto Mayor John Tory said at a press conference on Dec. 9 that steps are being taken to increase the presence of transit constables and police to bolster safety. He also said mental health supports need to be increased, citing mental health issues as one of the contributing problems.
