Toronto police make new appeal for help finding man wanted for 1st-degree murder

Toronto police made a new appeal for help from the public on Friday in finding a man wanted for first-degree murder in a stabbing that may have been random.

Anthony Steven Oliveira, 24, of no fixed address, is alleged to have fatally stabbed Ashkan Pournasir-Roudbane, 35, in a plaza near Danforth and Coxwell avenues on Tuesday night.

Det. Sgt. Henri Marsman told reporters that police have enlisted the help of other police services to find the suspect. He said police have distributed bulletins to all transit agencies in the GTA for operators to keep an eye out for the suspect.

"I believe that this person does have a history of violence and we want to take him into custody as soon as possible to prevent any further incidents from occurring," Marsman said.

"We believe the suspect targeted the victim because he was alone and in an isolated area. At this time, we do not know if they knew each other."

According to Marsman, the suspect and victim had an interaction but not an altercation before the stabbing. 

"It doesn't look like there was a dispute. The victim was sitting down and had no chance to defend himself or flee," Marsman said.

'No relationship between the suspect and the victim'

Marsman said police believe Pournasir-Roudbane was also targeted because there was no one around to witness the attack.

"At this time, we have no relationship between the suspect and the victim," he said.

Following the stabbing, Marsman said a male suspect was seen running from the area wearing dark clothing. 

Police were called to the area around 11 p.m.

Pournasir-Roudbane, who lived in the area, was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Pournasir-Roudbane is the city's 16th homicide victim of the year.

"We know how concerning an incident of this nature can be to members of the community. I want to take this opportunity to assure the public that we are diligently working to determine the whereabouts of Mr. Oliveira and take him into custody," Marsman said.

Marsman appealed to Oliveira himself, saying he should contact a lawyer and surrender to police. 

Oliveira is known to use public transit throughout the GTA, and he is said to have family and acquaintances in Durham Region.

Suspect wanted in Durham Region for assault

According to Durham Regional Police, Oliveira is also wanted in connection with an assault that happened earlier this month in Oshawa.

In that June 1 incident, a suspect approached two people walking in the opposite direction, pulled a knife out and tried to stab one of them in the area of Steeplechase Street and Windfields Farm Drive, Durham police said in a news release Monday. 

No injuries were reported, and the suspect took off before police arrived.

Anyone with information about Oliveira is urged to call police. If located, members of public are urged to call 911 and not to approach him.