Toronto police say dozens of shootings are linked to ‘multilayered’ gun-for-hire network

Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw announced that dozens of shootings across the Greater Toronto Area—including an attack on the US consulate in March and assaults on synagogues—are connected to a "multilayered" gun-for-hire network recruiting young adults and teenagers via encrypted messaging apps (Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp) to carry out paid attacks, with shooters required to film their acts for payment. The reporting is sourced directly from named police officials (Chief Demkiw and Chief Superintendent Joe Matthews), includes specific investigative details (two seized handguns linked to 27 shootings, named suspects with charges and ages, a killed officer), and names a potential foreign actor (Iraqi national Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, charged with terrorism by US authorities). Independent coverage from CP24, The Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail corroborates the core facts—multiple shootings linked to gun-for-hire networks, young recruits, encrypted app recruitment, and the death of Constable Marc Pinizzotto during a related raid—without material contradiction. Watch for: ongoing FBI-TPS coordination, the search for 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, investigation into who is financing and orchestrating the network, and potential developments in the terrorism connection to Iran-related actors.