A trail of bloody footprints staining the pavement outside a central Mountain apartment building is a gruesome reminder for neighbours of a bizarre break-in that cost a young Hamilton man his life Tuesday.

So far, police have not explained the motives or circumstances that led to a 23-year-old man diving headfirst through several glass windows after midnight.

What is clear is that an 86-year-old great-grandmother is in the hospital, a teenage boy's bedroom is soaked with blood and the 23-year-old suspect is dead.

The chain of events began when the suspect broke headfirst through the front window of a Lilacside Drive home near Mohawk Road East and Upper Sherman Avenue. The homeowner, an 86-year-old woman who had been up alone watching the news, was startled when the man confronted her with a knife.

According to police, she smacked him with her cane and he cut her with the knife before fleeing, breaking through a glass window at the rear of the house — again, headfirst.

The homeowner managed to make her way to a neighbour's, screaming that she had been stabbed. Police and EMS were called and the woman was taken to hospital.

From there, the man jumped the fence into an adjacent yard at 500 Mohawk Rd. E.

Ten minutes later, witnesses outside a Mohawk Road apartment building saw him — barefoot and wearing a blood-soaked white T-shirt — climb yet another fence and enter the yard at a 494 Mohawk Rd E. apartment complex.

Bloody footprints still visible Tuesday showed he walked along the row of ground-level apartments. He chose the last window on the left — covered by a black Playboy bunny flag — and smashed himself into the bedroom of a 15-year-old boy.

Jessica Desrochers, 34, had just stepped outside for a cigarette when she heard the sound of smashing glass. She saw the man drop over the fence and said he appeared to be "struggling."

"I didn't know if he was being chased by police or if he needed help. It made me hesitant," she said.

Before she went in to call police, she saw him grab a watering jug left in the yard and douse his body before diving headfirst into the apartment.

When he fell inside, the startled youth ran to tell his mom, who also called police, around 12:15 a.m.

"He demanded the keys to their car and then collapsed," said Joyce Rowley, the superintendent next door who spoke to the mother and son after the break-in.

"Nothing ever exciting happens here," Rowley added.

Splatters could be seen all over the teen's bedroom Tuesday, through the broken window that glaziers were working to fix that still had pooled blood on the sill.

Neither the teen nor his mom was injured, just shaken up, Rowley said.

Police were unable to say whether the man died inside or outside their apartment.

The 86-year-old woman — who has 28 grandchildren — remained in hospital Tuesday, her family said. They asked that her identity remain anonymous.

"She's tough. She raised seven kids," her daughter said from the doorway of the home after police cleared the scene just after lunch. She stood just steps from the broken window where the suspect got inside and attacked her mother.

Another daughter had been with her mom at the home until 11 p.m. Monday, and was alerted to the break-in just over an hour later by a medical alert service.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

This is the latest in a spate of break-ins targeting seniors on the Mountain. Police have not given any indication that this incident was connected to the previous break-ins.

Constable Debbie McGreal-Dinning said the woman did "everything right."

Police are awaiting results from the coroner's report on the deceased suspect. His name is being withheld at the request of his family.