24 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleNadine YousifSenior Canada reporter
Getty ImagesToronto police are investigating a series of shootings across the city, including attacks targeting synagogues, as officials probe possible foreign involvement.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Canada’s Secretary of State for Combating Crime, Ruby Sahota, said those behind the recent shootings were “paid and hired by a foreign entity”.
The comments came a day before police announced the arrest of 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, a suspect linked to a shooting outside the US consulate in March. Police believe the attack was one of dozens carried out by what they describe as “criminals for hire”.
“Who’s paying for this? This is what we are trying to determine,” said Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw.
Police believe the gunmen, described as young people, were recruited online through encrypted messaging applications, Demkiw said.
Authorities in Toronto and surrounding areas have arrested several suspects aged 18 and 19 in connection with the shootings, including Jabbi, who was arrested on Thursday at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Jabbi appeared in court shortly after his arrest and faces charges including theft, possession of a restricted firearm and attacking an internationally protected premises.
Last week, Toronto police executed search warrants across the city, including a raid on an apartment complex targeting suspects linked to the attack outside the US consulate.
One Toronto police officer, Constable Marc Pinizzotto, was killed during the operation.
Police said they recovered US-sourced handguns during the raid and believe similar weapons were used in dozens of other shootings in the Toronto area.
Officials said that the video surveillance of the consulate shooting showed the suspects allegedly filming themselves to record proof in order to receive payment.
Chief Demkiw said the case fit a “broader pattern” in which hired criminals were allegedly used to carry out attacks across Toronto, including at synagogues and Jewish schools.
“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,” he said.
Demkiw said that Toronto police was working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI on the investigation.
Last month, US officials arrested an Iraqi national, 32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, for allegedly planning more than a dozen attacks in North America and Europe targeting Jewish institutions and US interests, including the one at the US consulate in Toronto.
Police in Toronto have not said if al-Saadi is linked to their investigation.
He is alleged to be a commander in Kataib Hezbollah, a US-designated foreign terrorist organisation operating in Iraq with ties to Iran.
US officials have charged him with terrorism, while his lawyer argued he is facing “political prosecution”.
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