I just learned about this incident today after police in Toronto released the name of the victim. Ken Lee (pictured above) was killed last month in the early morning of December 18th. Lee had recently become homeless and was living in a shelter but apparently has family in the area. A group of 8 teenage girls allegedly carried out a “swarming” attack on Lee, stabbing him in a fight over a liquor bottle.

An alleged “swarming” attack in Toronto started when the eight teen girls charged in the slaying tried to take a liquor bottle from the victim and his friend, the friend says.

That witness, whom CBC Toronto has agreed not to name because they belong to a vulnerable community, said she was smoking a cigarette with the man outside a downtown shelter early Sunday when the group of teens approached them and attempted to take her alcohol.

The 59-year-old victim, who police have not publicly identified, told the girls to leave the two of them alone, the woman said.

“He protected me,” she said.

That’s when the group of girls started to punch him repeatedly, she recalled. Frightened by the violence, she walked away while one of the girls followed her. She said she could see lots of blood.

“Bleeding, bleeding, bleeding. I didn’t know if they had a knife or what. I was just scared,” she said. “I think they stabbed his belly.”

Ken Lee, the victim of the attack, was taken to a hospital but died from his injuries. What’s really shocking about the case is the age of the alleged killers, all of whom have been charged with murder.

Eight teenage girls have been charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of a 59-year-old man in Toronto, police say…

Three of the girls are 13 years old, three are 14 years old and two are 16 years old, according to Det.-Sgt. Terry Browne of Toronto police’s homicide unit. Three had previous contact with police, he said.

Police have apparently collected several weapons used in the attack but aren’t giving out names for obvious reasons and aren’t saying who did what during the attack. The other striking thing about this crime is that the girls don’t come from one neighborhood. They apparently met online and arranged to meet up that night.

Police have said they believed the teens congregated after meeting on social media and are from homes across the Greater Toronto Area. They said three had previous interactions with police, while five others did not. Canadian authorities can’t identify them because they’re minors. One was granted bail last month, while the rest await hearings.

Investigators have said they think the girls were trying to take a bottle of alcohol from the man. They also said the same girls got into an altercation earlier that night, taking part in a “swarming,” which is unheard of among girls, Toronto Police Sgt. Terry Browne said last month…

Browne said last month that police spoke to the parents of the teens.

“I can tell you it was a shock to find out that their children were involved in an event like this,” he said.

What the hell is going on in Toronto? This attack happened just after midnight on a Saturday night so it’s somewhat understandable that older girls might be out. But what did the parents of the 13 and 14-year-olds think their kids were doing out past midnight? It doesn’t make much sense to me as a parent. Sgt. Brown told the AP, “If this isn’t alarming and shocking to everyone, then we’re all in trouble quite frankly.”

Here’s video of Sgt. Brown describing the case to the media last month.