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Shooters for hire scheme in U.S. Consulate attack mirrors shootings at Jewish schools and synagogues
Toronto Police said Monday that shooters for hire who have targeted synagogues and Jewish schools are involved in a scheme similar to those who shot up the city’s U.S. Consulate and attacked GFL Environmental Inc. facilities and the home of at least one of the company’s executives.
Veteran Toronto Police Service Constable Marc Pinizzotto, a 43-year-old member of the force’s Emergency Task Force, died last Thursday while executing an early morning search warrant in the case. Nicholas Bennett, 19, who was wounded in Thursday’s raid, will face a first-degree murder charge in connection with Pinizzotto’s death. Investigators are still searching for 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, another suspect wanted in connection with the March 10 consulate attack on University Avenue.
“We are doing everything we can to find and arrest him,” Police Chief Myron Demkiw told reporters Monday.
Pinizzotto’s death has hit the force hard.
“This is an incredibly difficult moment for all of us,” Demkiw said. “Marc’s family has lost a husband, a father and a son, and as a service, we’ve lost a colleague and a friend.”
Police recovered two guns Thursday during the raid on an apartment complex north of Black Creek Drive and Eglington Avenue West, where Pinizzotto was killed. The 9 mm handgun and .45-calibre handgun both “originated in the United States of America,” Demkiw said.
“These details are important as this investigation involves at least six shooting incidents in the Greater Toronto area linked to a 9 mm handgun, and at least 21 shooting incidents in the Greater Toronto Area linked to a .45-calibre firearm,” said the TPS chief, who noted the investigation is ongoing.
“We are still doing ballistic testing, and more arrests and charges could come at a later date.”
The shooters for hire had to capture video of their targets in order to get paid for their efforts. One source has said payments are between $600 and $800 per shooting.
“What we are dealing with in this case and in other unrelated incidences, including shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, is a reoccurring and similar modus operandi,” Demkiw said. “And that is criminals for hire.”
Through encrypted messaging apps including WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal, “young people are hired to carry out attacks against various targets,” he said. “And in order to get paid, they’re required to film their attacks.”
The consulate attack, U.S. prosecutors suspect, was directed by Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, a commander of an Iraqi militia with ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), an Iranian military body.
“I know there’s been a lot of reporting about criminal groups and foreign actors, but what I can tell you is that we are still working actively to investigate who’s responsible for orchestrating these criminal acts,” Demkiw said.
“What we know is that bad actors are using criminal elements in our city to carry out these dangerous incidents. And it is clear that some of these individuals want to create a sense of fear in our communities, including in the Jewish community.”
An unsealed criminal complaint in the U.S. reported a wiretapped conversation with al-Saadi shortly after the March 10 shooting, claiming “our people” were responsible for the attack as well as another one on “the Knesset,” which appears to be a reference to a Toronto synagogue that was fired on around the same time.
RCMP Chief Superintendent Jamie Zettler, acting regional commander of federal policing for the central region, wouldn’t comment Monday on “the validity of that information, but it is part of our investigation. We’re aware of it and we’re continuing to follow up on it.”
The March 10 consulate shooting saw two men get out of a stolen Honda CRV and “fire multiple rounds,” into the building, said TPS Chief Superintendent Joe Matthews of Detective Operations.
“While the building was struck by gunfire, thankfully nobody inside was injured,” said Matthews, noting the shooters recorded their actions on their phones.
The stolen CRV they used “was found abandoned in Scarborough,” he said.
Investigators determined the shooting was connected to “several other firearm discharge investigations across the GTA, both in terms of the individuals involved and the firearms being used,” Matthews said.
A March 25 shooting at the Markham Road and Eglington Avenue East area involved shots being fired at the front door of a unit inside an apartment building. Nobody was hurt and the shooters fled.
The next day, shots were fired at a business in Etobicoke’s Islington and Lakeshore Boulevard West area, Matthews said. “Shots were fired at a business, damaging the storefront. Responding officers observed a dark Honda Civic fleeing the area at a high rate of speed and initiated a pursuit.”
The Civic eventually hit a fence, and the suspects fled on foot, he said. “Toronto Police determined that the three incidents were connected and identified several individuals who were alleged to be responsible.”
Halton Regional Police arrested Jayon Burgher, 18, of Barrie, on April 14 in connection with an Oakville shooting.
“While in custody, he was charged by the Toronto Police Service with multiple firearms offences related to the March 26 shooting in Etobicoke,” Matthews said.
“Through these investigations, suspects were identified and on June 11 the Toronto Police Service and the RCMP executed multiple search warrants across Toronto.”
Sheldon Tracey Stewart, 18, has been charged in relation to the consulate shooting, Matthews said.
“He faces multiple firearms-related charges as well as charges for failing to comply with his release order,” Matthews said. “The loaded firearm seized during his arrest, a Glock 17 9 mm handgun, has since been connected to six additional shootings across the Greater Toronto Area, including incidents in Toronto, Peel, York and Durham.”
Bennett, who allegedly shot Pinizzotto last week, has also been charged in connection with Scarborough’s March 25 shooting and the March 26 shooting in Etobicoke, Matthews said.
“While ballistic testing remains ongoing, we believe the second firearm seized (last Thursday) morning, a Springfield Armory XD .45-calibre handgun, could be connected to 21 additional shooting incidents in Halton, Peel and Toronto, including the shooting at the U.S. Consulate,” he said.
Police are still trying to identify “individuals responsible for pulling the triggers,” as well as “those who may have directed or organized these acts of violence,” Matthews said.
“We will continue to work together to identify everyone responsible for these crimes and ensure they are held accountable.”
It appears there are “multiple networks” of shooters for hire that are “multi-layered,” he said.
“The sharing of firearms is common,” Matthews said. “We don’t believe that it’s the same person pulling the triggers in each one. We believe that the firearms are being swapped around.”
He described a scenario with multiple cells of shooters for hire that stretches beyond the City of Toronto. “Multiple people are recruiting multiple youth in each cell,” Matthews said. “We’re aware of that. We just do not know the scope of it.”
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