A woman has been assaulted at Toronto’s Kipling Station in what appears to be a “random attack,” police say.
Toronto police said they were called to the station, located in the area of Dundas Street and Kipling Avenue in Etobicoke, at 11:15 a.m. Thursday.
Police said there were reports a man assaulted a woman in her 60s.
The woman was reported to be unconscious but was revived.
A police spokesperson said the woman was punched in the face.
Toronto paramedics told Global News they transported the victim to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The suspect, a man in his 30s, fled the area, police added.
In a statement, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) spokesperson Stuart Green said their thoughts “are with the victim for a speedy recovery.”
“As always, we will offer whatever assistance we can to aid TPS as they investigate this random attack,” Green said.
“Our CEO has spoken to (Toronto police) Chief (James) Ramer about ways we can make the TTC and Kipling station even safer. Kipling station is already a priority location for our special constables in their daily patrols and we will be increasing our presence there further.”
Kipling Station is the same location where last month a woman was lit on fire aboard a TTC bus in what police called a “suspected hate-motivated offence.”
In that incident, the woman later died of her injuries.
After that attack, TTC CEO Rick Leary said the agency has “numerous features and programs in place” including TTC constables strategically patrolling the system, working with Toronto police to increase their presence, two-way communication systems on platforms in designated waiting areas, and cameras and emergency alarms in all stations and vehicles.
Green said Thursday that despite the recent violent incidents, the TTC remains safe “by any global measurement.”
“We move hundreds of millions customers every year without incident, but we never take that for granted which is why we are continually looking at ways to make the system even safer,” he said.
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“On a daily basis, we have dozens of special constables strategically patrolling the system and we use all incidents to gather intelligence and inform our tactical deployment.”
Green reiterated the safety features that the TTC has in place, and noted that they are in the process of hiring nearly 60 more special constables that were approved last year.
He said it takes around one year from posting to having the constables out in the transit system.
Green also said more cameras are going to be installed in stations.
“In the wake of these recent incidents, we are focusing resources in and around the subway system to both give customers an added sense of safety and security as well as to respond in the unlikely event of a safety incident,” Green said.
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