Toronto police link gun-for-hire network to consulate, synagogue shootings
Police in Toronto say a sprawling "gun-for-hire" network that recruits young people online is behind nearly 30 recent shootings across the city, including attacks on the US Consulate and synagogues.
Investigators said the network recruits young adults through encrypted messaging apps and pays them to carry out shootings, sometimes requiring them to film the attacks to receive payment. Targets have ranged from disputes linked to the tow-truck and waste industries to Jewish schools, synagogues and the US Consulate, which was shot at in March.
Police said they had recovered firearms tied to multiple incidents, including one handgun allegedly connected to six shootings and another linked to 21, both said to have originated in the United States. A veteran police officer was killed as officers executed warrants in the city on June 11.
US prosecutors have alleged that an individual set up an online network while working with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to pay people in foreign cities to attack Jewish and American targets, pointing to a possible international dimension.
The case has alarmed authorities over the recruitment of minors and young adults for serious violence, and over the apparent outsourcing of attacks to anonymous, paid operatives coordinated through encrypted platforms.
