Toronto police say dozens of shootings, including one targeting the U.S. consulate in March, are linked to a “multi-layer” hitman network. The network is also responsible for attacks on Jewish synagogues around Canada’s largest city.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said Tuesday that bad actors are recruiting youths and teenagers through encrypted messaging apps like Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp, paying them to carry out attacks. Shooters must record the attack on video to receive payment. “Who is paying for this? That's what we're trying to determine,” Demkiw said.
A veteran Toronto police officer was killed last week during a raid tied to the shootings. Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was shot early Thursday as police executed a search warrant at an apartment building in the city's northwest. Police have charged Nicholas Bennett, 19—still hospitalized—with first-degree murder.
They also announced charges against Jayon Burgher and Sheldon Tracey-Stewart, both 18, for roles in several shootings. Police are still hunting for Zara Jabbi, 19, who is believed to be involved in the attack on the U.S. consulate. No one was injured in the March attack.
Police said two handguns recovered during last week's dawn raids may be linked to 27 separate shootings across the Toronto area, and investigators believe the seized weapons were passed between multiple shooters. “While we can link these weapons to multiple incidents, we are still working to identify not only the individuals pulling the trigger but those who may have directed or orchestrated this violence,” said Toronto Police Superintendent Joe Matthews.
Demkiw said the shootings are part of a “broader” trend police are seeing in the city and elsewhere, adding that investigators are working with the FBI. “What we are facing in this case and in other unrelated incidents—including shootings at Jewish synagogues and schools—is a repeated and similar modus operandi: it is crime for hire,” he said. “Clearly, some of those hiring these criminals want to create a sense of fear within communities, including the Jewish community.”
Investigators are examining the possibility that the U.S. consulate shooting is linked to a global terrorist network threatening retaliation for U.S. strikes on Iran. In May, the U.S. government charged Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi citizen, with terrorism. He is accused of being the mastermind behind nearly 20 attacks in Europe. U.S. court documents show al-Saadi also claimed responsibility for the Toronto consulate shooting. In a recorded phone call, the FBI alleges he suggested that “our people” were behind the attack. “I know there are many reports about criminal groups and foreign actors,” Demkiw said. “But what I can say is that we are still actively investigating to determine who is responsible for orchestrating these crimes.”
