Man charged in stabbing death of Abdullah Al-Tutunji

A 20-year-old man has been charged with second-degree murder after a Carleton University student was stabbed to death during a fight that began at a McDonald's early Sunday morning.

Jorden Larocque-Laplante is accused of killing Abdullah Al-Tutunji near the McDonald's on Meadowlands Drive E., Ottawa police said Monday. He appeared in court Monday morning, police said.

Al-Tutunji was studying environmental engineering, according to his Facebook page. His death was the city's 22nd homicide of the year — more than triple the number of homicides last year.

Ottawa police Insp. Glenn Wasson said a fight involving two or three men spilled out into the parking lot in the plaza at Meadowlands and Prince of Wales drives around 2:45 a.m.

A second man — Larocque-Laplante — was taken to hospital with minor injuries and later released into police custody.

Al-Tutunji was unconscious with multiple stab wounds when paramedics arrived.

He was taken to hospital in life-threatening condition but later died of his injuries.

It was the city's second homicide in less than 12 hours. 

On Saturday afternoon, a man was killed in a shooting in an apartment on McLeod Street in Centretown. There have been no arrests so far in relation to the shooting.

Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau tweeted Sunday morning that there have been "too many lives lost this year." The number is a significant increase over the seven homicides in 2015 and 2014, and nine homicides in 2013.