Authorities Investigating After Shots Fired at US Consulate in Toronto

Unidentified suspects opened fire at the U.S. consulate in Toronto during the early morning hours of March 10 in what officials are now describing as a “national security incident.” 

RCMP Chief Superintendent for criminal operations in Ontario Chris Leather told reporters during a March 10 press conference that it is too early to say if the incident was a terrorist attack and noted that the federal police force is working with Toronto police to determine the motive behind the incident.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting at the American consulate at 5:29 a.m., roughly one hour after the gunfire occurred, Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said during a press conference outside the embassy, located in the city’s downtown core.

Barredo said police found evidence of gunfire and damage to the building. He declined to provide details on how many rounds were fired or what type of handgun was used.

Police also collected evidence from witnesses that shows a white Honda CRV stopping in front of the consulate, located at 360 University Avenue, Barredo said. Two men climbed out of the vehicle and used what appeared to be a handgun to shoot at the front of the building before climbing back into the vehicle and driving away.

No one was injured, but police have confirmed there were people in the building when the shots were fired.

“It is very early in the investigation,” he said. “It is very active and we are aggressively assigning… resources to determine what happened and to bring the offenders to justice.”

Leather said the RCMP, which is aiding in the investigation, has been in touch with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and its American counterparts, including FBI officials.

“Whether it is a terrorist event or not, that will be subject to the investigation that will be undertaken in the coming days or weeks and that’ll be based on the evidence that’s collected both here at the scene and subsequently through the work with our partners,” he said.

‘Full Weight of Justice’

Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters on March 10 that his government would “use the full weight of resources” to catch the perpetrators and ensure they “feel the full weight of justice” for the attack on the consulate.

Premier Doug Ford also spoke out about the attack and warned that those responsible will “face the full extent of the law.”

Ford called the shooting “absolutely unacceptable” and floated the idea that the incident could be linked to sleeper cells in Canada.

“This is just me speaking but I believe there are sleeper cells all over the world,” Ford told reporters during a March 10 press conference at Queen’s Park. “As we know, they are in the U.S., they are in Canada here and we have to weed these people out and hold them accountable.”

Leather was asked about the possibility of sleeper cells being involved in the shooting during his press conference with Toronto police. He said he had no information “on any sleeper cells that may or may not exist in Canada.”

“Suffice to say that our CSIS counterparts are actively investigating matters such as this,” he said.

The embassy shooting comes a few days after the Toronto police announced an increase in officer presence throughout the city to discourage criminal activity in the wake of the Iran war, initiated by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.

Leather said security is being beefed up at the American and Israeli consulates in both Toronto and Ottawa as a result.

“I think it’s fairly obvious, based on the incidents that have occurred here in Toronto and elsewhere, that these consulates deserve a heightened amount of vigilance and security at this time in the hopes that we can bring the temperature down in the coming days and weeks,” he said.

Synagogue Shootings

The embassy shooting and subsequent investigation comes on the heels of several Toronto-area synagogues being targeted by gunfire.

Ford said he is tired of the escalation in violence against places of worship.

“It’s unacceptable that we’re seeing this in the greatest city, the greatest province, greatest country in the entire world, but we will not spare a penny to make sure we hold these people accountable, and we’re going to go full steam at this,” he said.

Barredo said police are investigating a possible connection between the shooting at the U.S. embassy and the gunfire at Toronto-area synagogues.

“We do not look at them in isolation, we look at them collectively and if there is something that is found to support that, that will obviously colour and direct how the investigation unfolds,” he said. “But it is not lost on us that the city has unfortunately experienced similar types of events, extremely serious and very concerning shootings at synagogues, and this very much factors into how we will approach this matter.”

Toronto police are already investigating a shooting at the Shaarei Shomayim synagogue in the city’s North York district on March 7 and a late-night shooting at the Temple Emanu-El Synagogue in Toronto on March 2. No injuries were reported in either incident.

York Regional Police is investigating two similar incidents: a March 7 shooting at the Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto synagogue in the Thornhill neighbourhood and a March 1 shooting at a Toronto-area gym owned by Iranian-Canadian activist Salar Gholami. The location was targeted two weeks after its owner co-organized an anti-Iranian regime protest in Toronto attended by 350,000 people. No one was injured in either shooting.

The Jewish community in Canada has become a target for violence since the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, with multiple shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, and other incidents of vandalism and assault targeting the community.

The new war with Iran has appeared to heighten tensions.

Initial airstrikes launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on Feb. 28 left Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dead, as well as several leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Iranian state TV announced over the weekend that Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the country’s late supreme leader, has been named his successor.

Iran continued its response on March 10, launching a new wave of missile and drone attacks on Israel and several Gulf Arab countries.

Air defence systems were activated across the Gulf as authorities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait reported intercepting incoming threats from Iran. Israel also reported missile launches from Iran early on March 10.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on March 9 the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran had largely achieved its objectives and told CBS “the war is very complete, pretty much.”

Trump previously indicated the war could last for about a month but said on March 9 that it is likely to be a “short-term excursion.”

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) responded late on March 9, saying that  Tehran would decide when the war ends.

Evgenia Filimianova contributed to this report.