Kristian Thanapalan never stood a chance.

The 22-year-old, looking forward to beginning his studies at York University in September, was swarmed by as many as 25 men and beaten to death with baseball and cricket bats early Saturday, according to a friend who escaped with only minor injuries.

Police are still looking for suspects and are to hold a news conference today.

"There was no reason to hit us – we never had no problems – so I think it could have been a territorial issue," said the friend. "They probably thought we were new guys coming here. We never had nothing to do with them, they had nothing to do with us."

Thanapalan and five buddies were playing volleyball at Glamorgan Park near Kennedy Rd. and Hwy. 401 shortly after midnight Saturday, said the friend, who lives nearby and requested his name not be used for fear of reprisal. They were sharing the park with another group of men playing cricket at a nearby baseball diamond, he said.

"We were about to leave to get some food. We went to our cars and a bunch of guys came from two angles and pretty much surrounded us. A couple of us were able to run off," he said.

Thanapalan was not so lucky.

The men with bats – about six or seven in total – divided into groups, some chasing Thanapalan's terrified friends, others pounding on Thanapalan himself. His friend did not see the fatal blow.

"The only reason we came here was for the lights (illuminating the baseball diamond). We don't usually come here at all, because we know this is such a bad neighbourhood," said the friend.

About a dozen mourners gathered at the park yesterday. Family members looked on in horror, hands covering their mouths, as Thanapalan's friend led them to the bloodstained patch of pavement on Antrim Cres. where the biotechnology student was swarmed.

They taped Thanapalan's picture to a tree, above a bouquet of flowers placed at the site by his father.

"He was a great guy, very good natured. He always had a bright smile for everyone," said Thanapalan's cousin Tina, who requested her last name not be used.

"He had a lot of good friends. He just graduated from Centennial (College)."

Thanapalan's parents were too distraught to speak.

Det.-Sgt. Savas Kyriacou implored witnesses from within the larger group to come forward yesterday.

"There's a number of people in the one group who, although they were there, had minimal involvement. The last thing they want to do is get caught in the same web as those who had more involvement," he said. "We're appealing for those people to do the right thing and come forward."

An autopsy is being performed today.

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The killing was Toronto's 28th murder of the year, and the second on Antrim Cres. In February, 30-year-old Centennial College psychology student Alexis Eracleous was shot in the chest on the ground floor of an apartment building.

Thanapalan's family is holding a viewing at Ogden Funeral Home on Sheppard Ave. tomorrow and Wednesday, from 5 to 9 p.m.