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After locating what appeared to be stab wounds, workers transported the man to a hospital, where he died, said Browne on Tuesday at a press conference at police headquarters on College Street.

Officers, following information that the alleged attackers had been eight young females, quickly located them nearby and arrested them, the investigator said. All eight are charged with second-degree murder. Three are 13 years old, three are 14 years old and two are 16 years old. Their identities are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Investigators believe the girls may have been trying to steal alcohol during the incident, and that the man may have been targeted by them at random, pc28����police say.

It is extraordinarily rare for young girls to be perpetrators of armed violence, which typically boils over between their male counterparts, though they are not immune from conflicts. It is rarer still for them to be accused of murder.

“I wouldn’t describe them as a gang at this point but what (is) alleged to have occurred that evening would be consistent with what we traditionally call a swarming,” Browne said.

Browne said a “number of weapons” were also seized, but he did not provide any further details.

Police know the man’s identity, but it is not being released while officers continue notifying family members.

A source in the shelter system, speaking confidentially to discuss internal matters, told the Star their records show the man who was attacked had been dealing with homelessness for some time, with nights spent in shelters dating back at least two years.

The man was not staying at the closest shelter — the Strathcona Hotel, a coed emergency facility opened as part of the city’s pandemic response — at the time of the attack, the source said.

While Browne said during the press conference that the victim had only been living in the system since this fall, spokesperson Stephanie Sayer later clarified to the Star that he hadn’t been suggesting the victim had never stayed in the system prior to that time.

“But his understanding, based on conversations with the family, is that he had recently moved into the shelter system a few months ago. I can’t confirm anything beyond that, as you know, because investigators are still notifying his next of kin,” Sayer said.

In a statement, a city of pc28����spokesperson said they couldn’t comment on the identity of clients in the shelter system and referred questions back to the police.

“The city is saddened to hear of the senseless attack that took the life of an individual this past weekend,” the statement said. “We extend our deepest condolences to their family and friends.”

Browne said police believe the girls were in the area where the attack occurred, near Union Station, as early as 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. He said they believe the girls got in another “altercation” before the alleged assault on the 59-year-old.

It’s not known how long the girls have known each other or why they came downtown that night, Browne said, but they met through social media and live in areas across the city.

Three of the girls have had prior “contact” with police — not necessarily a criminal record — and the other five had no prior police interactions, Browne said.

The girls made their first appearance in an Old City Hall courtroom on the day of their arrest.

Mohamed Ahmed, the co-executive director of the youth-focused non-profit , said they’ve never seen conflict involving teenage girls manifest in this way.

“When we see young people in difficult situations … it’s usually been males, unfortunately,” he said about youth becoming involved in crime.

If girls are involved in violence, he said, “it’s not to the level of what I just read.”

This is not the first attack on vulnerable people this month. A 21-year-old man was arrested earlier in December for two “unprovoked” stabbing attacks, with his victims including a man sleeping outside.

Kim Curry, executive director of the charity Seeds of Hope — which works to help people facing homelessness in pc28����— fears that public perspectives on homelessness have been hardening, as housing insecurity and other challenges such as mental illness and addiction have been plainly evident on Toronto’s streets. It’s a situation she blames on systemic barriers to access health care, supports and shelter.

“If we have someone deep in a fentanyl addiction, and they desperately want help and we can’t get them a medical detox, then what pathway do we have out of it?” Curry said, also noting the difficulty of accessing shelter, as the city system turned away an average of 168.3 callers per day in November.

“I feel like society itself is getting very exasperated,” she said, adding that the various crises playing out on Toronto’s streets seemed to stoke an “us-versus-them” attitude. “There’s a lack of empathy.”

In a statement, Mayor John Tory said he was “deeply disturbed” by the allegations.

“I am so saddened to know that a man has lost his life in this way,” he said, adding he’s “extremely troubled” by the alleged suspects’ age and the group nature of the attack.

“My thoughts are with this man’s friends and all those who knew him as they mourn his loss.”

The mayor continued his ongoing call for stronger mental health supports, saying it appears to be playing a factor in many recent violent incidents.

“And if the young accused in this case are not experiencing mental health issues, what happened here makes it imperative we determine, as best we can, why something like this could happen involving people so young,” he said.

“The pandemic made life much more mentally challenging for people young and elderly, and to ignore that fact is to accept the many incidents that are taking place, which I cannot do. But there may well be more to this, and we owe it to the victim, and to all Torontonians, to figure out how something like this could ever happen.”

Police are asking any witnesses or victims in the incident prior to midnight to contact them at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or .

Jennifer Pagliaro is a Toronto-based crime reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: