Police in Toronto are investigating after a gunshot was fired at the US consulate in the city – the second time this year such an incident has happened. Early on Monday morning, an officer stationed outside the consulate building heard the sound of a single gunshot and noticed a white car without a licence plate fleeing the scene.
Police briefly engaged in a high-speed car chase before ending it over safety concerns. No injuries were reported in the incident. It is unclear how many individuals were involved in the attack.
Monday’s shooting comes after Toronto police arrested three people for a similar incident in March, which investigators have linked to a broader gun-for-hire network.
Toronto police said they were investigating the latest attack with the help of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and international law enforcement partners.
Supt Jonathan Ko with the RCMP called it “another troubling incident”, while the city’s mayor, Olivia Chow, called the attack “brazen”.
The shooting occurred around 04:45 local time (09:45BST). Officers said they recovered one shell casing at the scene and damage to the building’s facade.
At least two individuals were inside the consulate at the time, Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said, but he noted the building is “very heavily fortified” and those inside likely did not hear the gun shot.
He added that the investigation remains ongoing and that police across the city have been asked to lookout for the potential suspects.
“We will bring the people responsible to justice,” Barredo said.
In a post on X, the US consulate in Toronto thanked the police for their response.
Police have been stationed outside the consulate since March, when shots were fired outside the building in what police at the time called a “national security incident”. No one was injured in that attack.
In June, police carried out raids in relation to the shooting. One police officer, 43-year-old Const Marc Pinizzotto, was killed during the operation.
Police later arrested several suspects aged 18 and 19 for allegedly carrying out a string of shootings, including the March attack outside the consulate, as part of a larger gun-for-hire network.
Two Jewish-owned bakeries in the city were also targeted, at least one by gunfire, over the weekend.
Police said on Monday there was currently nothing to link the two incidents, but they did not rule out a connection.
In May, 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, and they have not specified a motive for this latest consulate shooting.
By BBC News
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