Toronto shooting probe uncovers possible link to Tehran
A Toronto police investigation into suspects tied to the March attack on the U.S. Consulate has uncovered what authorities believe is a wide network linking multiple shootings across the Greater Toronto Area to individuals operating outside Canada.
According to confidential information obtained from police sources, investigators have identified a traceable logistics, supply and equipment pipeline linking suspects in the Toronto shootings to individuals and networks originating in Tehran, News.Az reports, citing Iran International.
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The findings have raised concerns among investigators that criminal groups in Canada may have been used to facilitate operations tied to broader geopolitical objectives.
The revelation comes as Toronto police continue to investigate a network allegedly responsible for dozens of shootings across the GTA.
The investigation intensified following an early-morning raid in which Constable Marc Pinizzotto was killed during an exchange of gunfire. Ballistic testing later linked firearms recovered at the scene to 27 separate shootings, according to Toronto Police.
Police Chief Myron Demkiw said investigators uncovered a recurring pattern in which teenagers and low-level gang members were allegedly recruited through encrypted messaging applications such as Telegram, WhatsApp and Signal to carry out attacks for payment.
In some cases, the recruits were allegedly instructed to film the shootings as proof that the assignments had been completed.
Among those charged is 18-year-old Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, who was wounded and arrested during the raid. Another suspect, 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, remains at large.
The Toronto investigation has unfolded alongside a separate U.S. terrorism case involving Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi national charged in New York.
According to U.S. court documents, prosecutors allege that al-Saadi played a role in coordinating attacks linked to Iranian interests abroad.
Federal investigators say he acknowledged in a recorded conversation that associates connected to his network carried out the shooting at the US Consulate in Toronto, allegedly in retaliation for US actions against the Islamic Republic.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
The emerging picture has also renewed attention on an armed attack targeting Iranian-Canadian activist Salar Gholami in Toronto earlier this year.
In the early hours of March 1, gunmen fired at a sports club owned by Gholami, a prominent opposition activist whose facility has served as a gathering place for anti-government events and demonstrations. At least 17 rounds struck the building.
Gholami believes the attack should be examined alongside the broader network now under investigation. Security footage, he said, showed a young masked gunman whose profile resembled the recruits allegedly used in other GTA shootings.
Authorities have not publicly linked the attack on Gholami's club to the wider investigation. But members of Canada's Iranian community argue that threats against dissidents deserve closer scrutiny as investigators work to determine the full extent of the network's operations.
By Ulviyya Salmanli
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