Stay informed
Shooting at U.S. Consulate in Toronto followed by abandoned high-speed pursuit: police
Police in Toronto are not ruling out the possibility that a gunshot fired at the U.S. Consulate Monday morning could be connected to the March shooting there nearly five months ago, although it’s too early to say definitively.
The incident in March, police and Crown prosecutors allege, is part of a gun-for-hire network targeting several locations in the city, many of them synagogues and Jewish schools.
The latest shooting at the consulate on University Avenue happened at 4:46 a.m. Monday and led to a high-speed chase that ended with an unidentified suspect (or suspects) getting away, according to police.
Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said an officer already on site as part of a security detail since the last attack heard the distinct sound of a single gunshot near where he was stationed. He then spotted “a white late-model Honda Accord with no license plates in the area and saw it speeding away from the scene.”
He notified other nearby officers who located the vehicle and engaged in a high-speed pursuit along the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) at speeds of up to 140 km/h. The chase was called off around Don Mills Road due to the danger posed by the suspect vehicle’s speed.
Barredo told reporters at a Monday news conference that aerial support was not available at the time, but “had it been, no doubt the outcome might have turned out differently.”
He also credited the initial officer’s quick response in clocking the fleeing vehicle.
“It’s because of that officer’s actions that we were able to get up on our suspect and that’s why we actually managed to get involved in a pursuit” that very nearly ended in an arrest, he said.
At the scene, officers located one single spent shell casing of an undisclosed calibre and some damage to the building’s facade. Two security personnel inside were uninjured.
That the shot was fired while a TPS cruiser was parked in front of the building with its emergency lights on “perhaps speaks to the brazen quality of this act and the recklessness that’s involved, certainly, to engage in a high-speed pursuit,” Barredo added.
TPS’ integrated gun and gang task force is leading the investigation, with support from supported by the counterterrorism and security unit.
Anyone in the vicinity of College and Queen Street between 4:30 a.m. and 5 a.m. who may have witnessed something, noticed something unusual or has any dash cam or security footage is asked to contact the task force.
“I can assure Torontonians that the Toronto Police Service and our partners, federal, provincial and otherwise, are very much actively working to not only deter, but apprehend people involved in this,” he said.
“We have made arrests and practically all of the other shootings, at great cost to the Toronto Police Service in one instance.”
That includes the apprehension of Sheldon Tracey-Stewart, 18, Zara Jabbi, 19, and Nicholas Bennett, 19, who are accused in the March 10 shooting at the U.S. Consulate General, an attack described as a “national security incident .”
All three face multiple firearms charges, but Bennett is also charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of TPS officer Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, who was shot and killed during the man’s arrest in June.
“Police allege young people are being recruited through encrypted messaging applications to carry out attacks and are required to record the incidents as proof to receive payment,” TPS said last month.
Police said ballistics from seized handguns — including the one used in Pinizzotto’s death — are linked to 27 shootings in the city. Other targets included GFL Environmental Inc. facilities and the home of at least one of the company’s executives.
According to an unsealed criminal complaint in the U.S., prosecutors there suspect the attacks were carried out at the behest of 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.
Canadian law enforcement, however, has been remiss in commenting on the matter.
Barredo also said on Monday that investigators “would not, as a matter of course, rule out any possible connection” between the latest consulate incident and the shots that were fired at two Jewish-owned Kavi’s bakery locations late Saturday night.
In those incidents, police allege the same dark-coloured SUV stopped in front of the stores on St. Clair Avenue and Steeles Avenue about an hour apart and damaged the front glass with gunfire.
Premier Doug Ford said he was “disgusted” by both recent events.
“In all cases, active police investigations are underway,” he posted on X. “I expect all those responsible to be found, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, also in attendance at Monday’s press conference, also promised those responsible, like the previous shooters, “will be held accountable.”
The consulate attack, like its predecessor, was widely condemned.
Federal public safety minister Gary Anandasangaree said he was “appalled by the brazen shooting” and pledged Ottawa’s full support.
“What kind of city have we become,” asked councillor James Pasternak . “Paid shooters roaming through our streets to spread terror. We will support and wish for the safety of all the diplomats and their staff while living in Toronto.”
Avi Benlolo, founding chairman and CEO of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI), surmised that “Toronto is under attack.”
“This is a national emergency, and our political leaders must respond immediately and decisively,” he wrote on X.
A similar call came from Republican Florida Senator Rick Scott, who said “Canada has a serious antisemitism problem the government needs to get serious about.”
“Everyone needs to wake up. Attacks like this are the canary in the coal mine,” he shared on X. “The attackers are coming after our Judeo-Christian values. We need to act like it.”
Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here.
Unpublished Newswire
Comments
Be the first to comment