A young girl is dead and a boy is in custody after a stabbing inside a Scarborough apartment on Tuesday.

Officers were called to a building on Dundalk Drive, near Kennedy Road and Highway 401, around 6:30 p.m. after residents reported hearing screaming coming from an eighth-floor unit.

Emergency crews arrived to find a 12-year-old girl with stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Residents also reported seeing a boy dangling from the unit’s balcony. Police tell CityNews the boy, also 12, was taken to hospital with injuries before being released and taken into custody.

There is no word on what led to the stabbing.

Toronto police confirmed in a release that a young person has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the incident.

Superintendent tried to help after hearing commotion

Amy Li, the building’s superintendent, recounted the frantic moments after getting a panicked call from a resident sounding desperate for help. 

“I’m thinking maybe the kids are fighting. When I go up… but the door cannot open,” Li said.

Li tells CityNews she heard a noise and yelling coming from the unit and then quickly realized there was also a stir outside the building.

Many residents witnessed a boy dangling from the balcony. He was eventually pulled to safety by firefighters. 

Li said a mother and five kids live inside the unit, and neighbors tell CityNews some children were home when the attack happened.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford offered his condolences in a statement posted to social media on Wednesday morning.

“I’m deeply saddened by the tragic death and loss of a young girl in Scarborough last night,” said Ford on X. “I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child and my deepest condolences go out to her family, friends and loved ones.”

With files from CityNews reporter Carl Hanstke

The girl’s mother Gladys Olisaekee is devastated beyond words.