National Security Network.
Toronto police arrest Zara Jabbi for U.S. Consulate shooting, tied to 'shooters for hire' network.
Key Points
Police said prosecutors in the U.S. have suggested the alleged attack network connected to the consulate shooting “relates to the Iranian regime.”
Investigators provided a detailed account of the alleged March 10 assault: they said video surveillance showed the suspects firing at the consulate while recording on their phones, and that police found shell casings plus damage to the glass and doors.
The “shooters for hire” investigation expanded beyond synagogues and Jewish schools: police said it also involved attacks tied to GFL Environmental Inc. facilities and the home of at least one GFL executive.
Police listed additional, specific charges against Jabbi beyond the summary’s general description: theft of a motor vehicle; possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000; discharge of a restricted/prohibited firearm; attack on premises of internationally protected persons; possession of a firearm knowing possession is unauthorized; and possession of a loaded prohibited/restricted firearm.
Authorities said the firearm suspect-officer link was not definitive at the time Jabbi was publicly asked to turn himself in: police previously urged Jabbi to turn himself in, adding he was “not necessarily tied to the shooting of the officer.”
Toronto police arrested 19-year-old Zara Jabbi at Pearson International Airport on Wednesday, closing the manhunt for the last suspect in the March 10 shooting at the U.S. Consulate in downtown Toronto. Jabbi faces six charges, including discharge of a restricted firearm and attack on premises of internationally protected persons, according to Global News.
The arrest caps a stunning week for Toronto investigators. A network of alleged "shooters-for-hire" linked to the consulate attack has now been connected to at least 28 violent incidents across the Greater Toronto Area. The investigation cost one officer his life.
A March Morning Attack Caught on Camera
At 5:29 a.m. on March 10, two men stepped out of a stolen white Honda CR-V in front of the consulate at 360 University Avenue. Police say they fired multiple rounds at the entrance while recording the attack on their phones. Shell casings, shattered glass, and damaged doors were left behind. No one inside was hurt, Vancouver Sun reported.
The stolen vehicle was later found abandoned in Scarborough. Police publicly urged Jabbi to turn himself in after the June 11 raids, saying he was "not necessarily tied to the shooting of the officer." He was taken into custody six days later at the airport and is scheduled to appear in the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on June 18, according to National Post.
Officer Killed During Raids That Netted Two More Suspects
On June 11, Toronto police and the RCMP executed five search warrants across the GTA. During a raid at an apartment complex on Martha Eaton Way in North York, Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was fatally shot. The alleged shooter, 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett, was critically wounded by another officer and now faces first-degree murder charges, according to Global News.
In the same sweep, officers arrested 18-year-old Sheldon Tracey-Stewart, who faces 11 charges tied to the consulate shooting. Two handguns seized during the raids were ballistically linked to the shootings. One of those guns alone has been connected to 21 separate incidents, National Post reported.
Synagogues, Jewish Schools, and a Corporate Giant All Targeted
The "shooters-for-hire" network stretched far beyond the consulate. Police say the same pipeline funded attacks on synagogues and Jewish schools across the GTA. Investigators also linked the group to shootings at GFL Environmental Inc. facilities and the private home of at least one GFL executive, according to Edmonton Journal.
Authorities say recruiters used encrypted apps — Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp — to hire teenagers as young as 18. A key condition for payment: film the attack on a phone. Superintendent Joe Matthews of the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force said the network deliberately targeted young people with no criminal records to avoid detection.
U.S. Prosecutors Point to Iranian Regime Behind the Plot
The case has crossed into national security territory. U.S. prosecutors told Canadian authorities the alleged attack network "relates to the Iranian regime," according to Leader-Post. In Turkey, authorities separately arrested Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national with alleged ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who U.S. officials linked to coordinating the Toronto consulate attack.
Canada's Secretary of State for Combatting Crime, Ruby Sahota, told Parliament that the shooters were connected to a "foreign entity." The federal government is using the case to push a new lawful-access bill that would require messaging apps and internet providers to give police and CSIS greater surveillance access. Ballistic testing is still ongoing, and further arrests are expected, Vancouver Sun reported.
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