Multiple shootings in Toronto, including one at the U.S. Consulate in March, have been linked to "multi-layered" gun-for-hire networks that recruit young people to carry out the crimes, police said Tuesday.
Chief Myron Demkiw said similar networks have also targeted synagogues and Jewish schools in the city, and police are working with the RCMP and the FBI to figure out who is orchestrating the shootings.
"Through encrypted messaging apps, young people are hired to carry out attacks against various targets," Demkiw told a press conference.
"In order to get paid, they're required to film their attacks. Who's paying for this? This is what we are trying to determine," he said.
"It is clear that some of the people hiring these criminals want to create a sense of fear in our communities, including in the Jewish community."
A veteran Toronto police officer was killed last week during a raid linked to several shooting investigations, including shots fired at the U.S. Consulate.
Const. Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was shot on Thursday while officers were carrying out a search at an apartment building in the city's northwest and died in hospital.
The man accused of shooting Pinizzotto, 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett, was shot by police and remains in hospital. He will be charged with first-degree murder, police said, and is expected to be charged in connection with two other shootings targeting a business and a highrise apartment.
Police have also arrested and charged 18-year-old Sheldon Tracy-Stewart in the U.S. Consulate shooting. Another suspect wanted in connection with that shooting, 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, is still at large and believed to be armed and dangerous, police said.
Police said surveillance video showed two suspects getting out of a car on University Avenue and firing multiple rounds at the U.S. Consulate in the early morning of March 10. No one inside was injured.
Demkiw said officers recovered two firearms during their operation last week, including a nine-millimetre handgun and a .45-calibre handgun, both of which originated in the United States.
"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," he said, adding that ballistic testing is ongoing and could lead to more arrests and charges.
Chief Supt. Joe Matthews said it seems there are multiple networks behind the crimes and the shooters tend to be "younger in age."
Police believe that firearms are being "swapped around" within the networks and used in different shootings.
He also said there is an "overlap" between these investigations and shootings targeting tow trucks and waste management companies, but did not get into more detail.
"These are very, very complex investigations," Matthews said.
Police also announced Tuesday that Pinizzotto's funeral will be held at the Toronto Congress Centre on June 24. It will not be open to the general public, but people can observe the funeral procession from the Kane-Jerrett Funeral Home, they said.
"This is an incredibly difficult moment for all of us," Demkiw said at the press conference.
"Marc's family has lost a husband, father and son, and as a service, we've lost a colleague and a friend."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
