Another suspect has been arrested in connection with the US Consulate shooting
Toronto police say the shooting was part of a “guns-for-hire” scheme in which young people commit violence in exchange for payment on behalf of other parties
A 19-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a shooting that occurred at the US Consulate last March. Zara Jabbi’s arrest follows numerous others related to what police are describing as a “guns-for-hire” scheme in which young people carry out gun violence in exchange for payment, on behalf of other parties.
Police said the targets have included synagogues and Jewish schools, as well as the US Consulate.
Earlier this week, a police officer was fatally shot while conducting a search warrant related to these shootings. Another 19-year-old, Nicholas Bennett, is now charged with murder in connection to the death of Constable Marc Pinizzotto.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said the raid in North York was related to 27 shootings in the GTA.
“What we are dealing with in this case and in other unrelated incidents, including shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, is a recurring and similar modus operandi and that is criminals for hire,” Demkiw said this week at a news conference.
“Through encrypted messaging apps, young people are hired to carry out attacks against various targets and in order to get paid, they are required to film their attacks. Who is paying for this? This is what we are trying to determine.”
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
