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Toronto Police Link Dozens of Shootings to Gun-for-Hire Network
Investigators tied attacks including one at the US consulate to a network that recruits young adults and teens via encrypted apps. Two seized handguns are connected to 27 shootings.
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Toronto police have linked dozens of shootings, including one at the US consulate in March, to a multilayered gun-for-hire network that is also responsible for attacks on synagogues around the city. Chief Myron Demkiw told reporters on Tuesday that young adults and teenagers are being recruited through encrypted messaging apps such as Signal, Telegram and WhatsApp by bad actors and paid by the networks to carry out the attacks.
Shooters are required to film their attacks in order to get paid.
Demkiw said. ” Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was shot and killed early on Thursday morning while executing a search warrant at an apartment building in Toronto’s north-west. A procession with his body took place in Toronto on 11 June 2026.
Police have charged 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett with first-degree murder in the death; Bennett remains in hospital. Police have also charged 18-year-olds Jayon Burgher and Sheldon Tracey-Stewart for their roles in some of the shootings and are searching for 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, who is linked to the attack at the US consulate. No one was injured in the March attack.
Two handguns seized during dawn raids last week could be connected to 27 separate shootings across the Greater Toronto Area. Investigators believe the seized guns were being passed between multiple shooters. “While we’ve been able to connect these firearms to numerous instances, we are still working to identify not only the individuals responsible for pulling the triggers but also those who may have directed or organized these acts of violence,” said Joe Matthews, the Toronto police service’s chief superintendent.
Demkiw said the shootings are part of a broader trend police are seeing in Toronto and other regions. Investigators are working with the FBI. “What we are dealing with in this case and in other unrelated incidences, including shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, is a recurring and similar modus operandi and that is criminals for hire,” Demkiw said.
