Toronto police say multiple investigations into shootings around the Toronto area, including incidents at synagogues and the U.S. Consulate, reveal a pattern of young people being hired to perpetrate gun crimes in the city.
Chief Myron Demkiw and Chief Supt. Joe Matthews spoke at a news conference Tuesday morning, less than a week after police carried out search warrants related to multiple shootings across the city.
Three recent arrests have been linked to the shooting investigations, Matthews said, including the alleged killer of a Toronto police officer who was shot during a raid Thursday.
Demkiw said the investigators recovered two firearms in the raids: a 9-mm handgun believed to be connected to at least six shooting incidents across the city, and a .45-calibre firearm believed to be connected to at least 21 others, he said.
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Demkiw added multiple Toronto-area shootings under investigation, and three recent arrests, are believed to be part of a wider network of young people hired to take part in shootings across the Toronto area, with targets including the U.S. Consulate, Jewish schools, synagogues and GFL Environmental waste management facilities, police said.
“Through encrypted messaging apps, young people are hired to carry out attacks against various targets,” Demkiw said. “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.”
Toronto police are working with the RCMP and FBI on the investigations, Demkiw said, and believe there are multiple gun-for-hire networks behind shootings in the city.
“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 the people hiring these criminals want to create a sense of fear in our communities, including in the Jewish community,” he said.
Police believe that firearms are being “swapped around” within the networks and used in different shootings.
Matthews 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,” he said.
Those carrying out the incidents are likely not being paid much, Toronto lawyer and former director of the Special Investigations Unit — the province’s police watchdog — Ian Scott told CBC News Tuesday.
“It’s a bit of a domino process, which just requires working your way up what could be a rather elaborate food chain,” he said.
“It’s without a doubt having a major impact upon public safety in the community,” Scott added.
Nicholas Bennett was arrested on Thursday and will face first-degree murder charges for the death of Const. Marc Pinizzotto. Bennett was allegedly also part of a shooting at a Scarborough Village residence on March 25 and at a jiu-jitsu studio near Islington Avenue and Lake Shore Boulevard on March 26.
Jayon Burgher, 18, of Barrie, was also arrested by Halton police on April 14 for his alleged connection to the jiu-jitsu studio shooting.
The investigations also resulted in the previously reported arrest of Sheldon Tracey-Stewart, who was allegedly involved in a shooting at the U.S. Consulate on March 10.
No one was injured in the consulate shooting in March, but RCMP called it a “national security incident” at the time. The incident at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto has been linked to a recent FBI terrorism arrest, according to an April 2026 U.S. Department of Justice criminal complaint.
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Zara Jabbi, 19, is wanted for his alleged connection to the consulate shooting. Police had said last week he was an outstanding suspect in the broader investigations that led to Thursday’s search warrants.
“They’re all adults that have committed these offences,” Matthews said. “But it’s not lost on us that younger people are being recruited.”
Demkiw said the investigations are ongoing and more arrests and charges could come at a later date.
