Police investigate shooting at US consulate in Toronto

By JIM MORRIS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — A shooter fired at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto early Monday morning, police said, the second time this year someone shot at the building. No one was injured in the incident, but a single shell casing was found and there was damage to the building’s facade.

Toronto deputy chief Frank Barredo said a high-speed chase ensued that lasted an hour, but that no arrest was made. He vowed that the search for the perpetrator or perpetrators would continue.

“We will approach this investigation with great seriousness,” Barredo said at a news conference. “We will bring the people responsible for this to justice.”

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow called the shooting a “brazen attack.”

“I want to say to the person or persons responsible, we will get you,” said Chow.

The shooting occurred despite heightened security

The U.S. Consulate was targeted March 10, when two suspects allegedly fired multiple shots at the building before driving away in a stolen vehicle.

Last month police arrested Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, 18, and Zara Jabbi, 19, and charged them with multiple offenses related to the March shooting. Those charges have not been tested in court.

Since the first incident there has been a police presence at the consulate.

Barredo said a police cruiser was outside the consulate with its lights on at the time of the shooting, and that two security people were in the building.

Authorities are trying to determine the motive behind both incidents

Toronto police in June said they believed multiple shootings, including the March incident, could be linked to “multilayered” gun-for-hire networks that have also targeted synagogues in the city.

Over the weekend two popular Jewish-owned bakeries were targeted by gunfire.

Barredo said police have not ruled out a connection between the two incidents.

“Investigators will follow the evidence to where it leads,” he said.