Eight teenage girls stab man to death for his 'liquor bottle'

Eight teenage girls have been charged with the second-degree murder of a homeless man in downtown Toronto early Sunday morning. The girls stabbed the man to death while allegedly trying to snatch a liquor bottle from him.

According to local media reports, they assaulted and stabbed the 59-year-old man after an altercation in a square near the Canadian city's main rail station. The man, who has not been identified yet, was living in a shelter for the homeless when the eight teens attacked him. He had been living there since late fall of this year.

The suspects are all under the age of 16; three of them are 13; three are 14; and two are 16, per the Toronto Police.

"We can't say with certainty, but our belief is that (the girls) were trying to remove a liquor bottle that he was in possession of," said Detective Sergeant Terry Browne at a press conference.

They were arrested soon after the incident and remanded into custody. The police seized a number of sharp-edged weapons from the girls. They are to appear in court again on December 29.

The police believe that the girls got to know each other through social media. All of them come from different parts of Toronto. "Eight young girls and most under the age of 16. If this isn't alarming and shocking to everyone, then we're all in trouble quite frankly," said Detective Browne.

"They are all equally culpable. There is no doubt in our minds that they were all working as a singular entity in a swarming mob mentality when they chose to attack this man," he added.

The police cannot reveal the identities of the girls under Canada's Youth Criminal Justice Act. They have declined to describe the group of girls as a gang and called the attack "swarming-type behaviour."

Three of them have had prior contact with police in connection with different cases, but the other five have had no prior contact with police at all, per a report by Fox News.