Toronto police investigating after another person hit by tossed feces
Police are searching for a suspect who they say dumped feces on a woman near a University of Toronto building before running away.
Officers believe the suspect is also responsible for two other incidents of fecal matter being hurled at people in the last five days.
This latest attack happened near College Street and University Avenue just before midnight on Monday, police say.
"A woman was walking by the University of Toronto when once again, unsuspectingly, a man approached her and dumped what is described to us as fecal matter on top of her," Const. Victor Kwong of the Toronto Police Service said in an interview.
Officers were able to collect an orange bucket left behind at this scene. The bucket is now being forensically tested so that police can pinpoint exactly what is inside.
It's "really demeaning for someone to do that because no one just does that, I think, spontaneously," Sabrina Olaso, a first-year student at the university told CBC News.
The incident made another student, Jacob Masih, reconsider spending the day on campus.
"I'm kind of scared so I might go home. For me, I'm a commuter and I walk a lot so I'm not trying to get that stuff put on me," he said.
The previous incidents occurred at the University of Toronto's Robarts Library and York University's Scott Library. The only connection seems to be their proximity to the universities, Kwong said.
"Even in terms of victims, there is nothing to say that all the victims are of the same ethnicity or gender," he explained.
The suspect is described as a black male in his 30's who was wearing a yellow construction hard hat, blue shirt and gloves at the time.
That description matches what fourth-year life science student, Jason Huang, saw during the first attack last Friday.
He told CBC News that he was sitting in Robarts Library cafeteria when he saw a tall man wearing a yellow construction hat run up to someone and dump a bucketful of brownish-yellow liquid on them.
"We didn't know what it was then ... and then the smell just hits," Huang said.
The man in the construction hat was laughing and ran off, he said.
"He was laughing ... like giggling loudly," he said. "[A] scary kind of laugh."
The university didn't comment on the most recent incident but said in an earlier statement, on Monday, that it is supporting Toronto police's investigation.
The second attack occurred on Sunday Nov. 24 when a student at York University also had feces thrown on them while they were in the Scott Library.
A York University spokesperson said the incident happened around 5 p.m. ET and campus security was dispatched to deal with the situation.
Two videos captured after that incident and shared online show some of the fecal matter left behind on an empty chair.
Toronto police confirmed in a news release Monday evening that the bucket contained "liquefied fecal matter."
They were able to track down security footage of the suspect following the York University incident.
"York University has reached out to the victim of that assault to offer support," said York's acting chief spokesperson Yanni Dagonas.
"We are also investigating the incident and working with Toronto Police Service."
Kwong says police have no idea what the motive may be at this time but issues a warning to the suspect.
"For anyone who thinks this might be a joke, it's not. It carries the same charge as an assault. In fact, it will be an assault."
