Toronto police link consulate and synagogue shootings to gun-for-hire networks

Toronto police say a string of shootings across the Greater Toronto Area, including the March 10 attack at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, was carried out by multiple gun-for-hire networks that recruit young adults through encrypted messaging apps, pay them to shoot, and require video proof before they get paid. The pattern links diplomatic property, Jewish institutions and commercial targets in one criminal system, pushing the case well beyond a local violence spree.

Police chief Myron Demkiw said the investigation now points to a broader pipeline for violence, not isolated incidents. Officers have linked the consulate shooting to attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools in Toronto, and investigators also believe GFL Environmental waste-management facilities were among the targets. Toronto police said they recovered two firearms in raids: a 9-mm handgun tied to at least six shooting incidents and a .45-calibre firearm linked to at least 21 others.

The investigation turned deadlier on June 11, when Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was killed during a search warrant operation tied to the consulate case. Pinizzotto had served 18 years with the Toronto Police Service and was a member of the Emergency Task Force. Toronto police said 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett was shot by officers and is expected to be charged with first-degree murder in Pinizzotto’s death, while another 19-year-old suspect, Zara Jabbi, remained at large and was considered armed and dangerous.

The consulate shooting has also become a national-security matter. Canadian authorities said the March 10 attack would be investigated as a national security incident, and U.S. prosecutors later linked it in a May court filing to Mohammad Baqer Saad Al-Saadi. U.S. authorities described Al-Saadi as a member of Kataib Hezballah, the Iran-backed group designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization.

For Toronto, the case underscores how decentralized gun-for-hire networks can blur the line between organized crime, hate-motivated violence and terrorism-linked threats. For U.S. officials and North American law enforcement, the implications are broader still: a shooting at a diplomatic post in Toronto now sits inside a cross-border investigation involving the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the FBI and a criminal market that appears able to pivot from commercial properties to religious sites and foreign missions with alarming ease.