What we know about the US consulate shooting in Toronto

By Max Saltman, Paula Newton, CNN

(CNN) — Police in Toronto are investigating a “national security incident” after shots were fired at the US consulate early Tuesday, leaving damage to the building but no injuries.

Police said a witness flagged a constable down to report gunshots at the consulate around 5:29 a.m., roughly an hour after investigators believe the shooting occurred.

Deputy Chief Frank Barretto of the Toronto Police Service said that authorities “found evidence of a firearm discharge, shell casings as well as damage to the building.”

Witness evidence shows that two male suspects fired what appears to be a handgun at the front of the consulate before fleeing in a white Honda CRV, Barretto said. Police later released an image of the car taken from security camera footage.

“There were people inside the building,” Barretto said. “However, this building is highly secure, highly fortified, and there were no injuries.”

The deputy chief later said that the building is so heavily encased in metal and glass that the staff within may not have noticed the gunfire at all.

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

Toronto’s Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force is leading the investigation, he added, with help from other local and federal agencies.

American embassies and consulates have increased security and recalled employees all over the world as the US and Israeli war against Iran continues to expand.

The shooting in Toronto comes days after a bombing at the US Embassy in Oslo, Norway. US diplomatic missions recently have been targeted in Iranian retaliatory strikes in the Persian Gulf.

Asked if the incident was linked to the ongoing war in the Middle East, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said that it is too early to say, but any connection between the incident and current events is under investigation.

“At this time, the INSET team has been engaged as this is a national security incident,” Leather said, referring to the Canada’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams, which handle counter-terrorism, “and we are working with Toronto Police and others to understand the motivations of those involved.”

Leather added that Ontario has seen multiple shootings at synagogues in recent days, which “very much factors into how we will approach this matter, as well.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford speculated at a separate press conference that the synagogue shooting and incident at the consulate could be the work of “sleeper cells.”

“This is just me speaking,” Ford said. “I believe there are sleeper cells all over the world, as we know – they’re in the US, they’re in Canada.”

Leather told reporters that the RCMP does not have “any information to provide at this time on any sleeper cells that may or may not exist in Canada.”

Whether the shooting will be classified as terrorism or not, Leather said, depends upon the results of the investigation.

“It’s definitely a national security incident, because we had the US Consulate, after all, struck by gunfire,” Leather said.

US Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra called the shooting “deeply troubling” in a post on X.

“I am very grateful that no one was hurt,” Hoekstra wrote. “My team is in close contact with Toronto Police and Canadian authorities, and we have full confidence in their investigation. Our work continues, we will not be intimidated.”

“At this time, the State Department is aware of the incident and is closely monitoring the situation in coordination with local law enforcement,” a State Department spokesperson said earlier Tuesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called the shooting “a reprehensible act of violence and attempt at intimidation” in a statement on social media, writing that the “RCMP and federal agencies will devote all needed resources to support the Toronto Police Service in their investigation, and to ensure that the perpetrators of these violent acts are identified and brought to the full weight of justice.”

At the press conference in Toronto, Leather said other consulates, including US and Israeli embassies, “will be seeing a change in the security posture here in Toronto as well as Ottawa.”

Asked why the Israeli and US consulates specifically would receive more security, Leather replied that it is “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 added that Canadian authorities are in contact with US officials, including the FBI, regarding the matter.

CNN’s Jennifer Hansler contributed reporting.

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