Young people are being hired to carry out shootings at targets around Toronto, including Jewish schools and synagogues, and the US consulate, Toronto’s police chief, Myron Demkiw, told reporters on Tuesday.
Demkiw called the conference to provide an update on arrests made in multiple firearm discharge investigations, including the shooting at the US Consulate that took place on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, and the killing of a veteran Toronto police officer last week during a raid linked to the shootings.
Addressing the broader pattern, Demkiw said: “What we are dealing with in this case and in other unrelated incidents, including shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, is a recurring and similar modus operandi, and that is criminals for hire.”
“Through encrypted messaging apps, young people are hired to carry out attacks against various targets. And in order to get paid, they’re required to film their attacks.”
He said that the police, along with the RCMP and the FBI, are still trying to determine who is paying for this.
“I know there’s been a lot of reporting about criminal groups and foreign actors, but what I can tell you is that we are still working actively to investigate who is responsible for orchestrating these criminal acts.”
What is known, Demkiw said, is that bad actors are using criminal elements in Toronto to carry out these “dangerous incidents.”
“And it is clear that some of the people hiring these criminals want to create a sense of fear in our communities, including in the Jewish community,” he added.
'Very complex investigations'
When asked which encrypted apps are being used to recruit the youth, Chief Supt. Joe Matthews told reporters that, so far, the apps are WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal, but that the police are “expecting to uncover many more device apps.”
“These are very complex investigations. That’s why we are supporting our federal and provincial partners with legislative reform to allow us to be able to intercept encrypted apps, obviously through judicial authorization.”
Matthews said the networks “for sure” go beyond the scope of Toronto, and are national, if not international.
MPP Stephanie Smyth for Toronto called the revelations “deeply disturbing, unprecedented and terrifying.”
“We still do not know who is directing these attacks. Whether this is organized crime, domestic terrorism, an international terror network, or some combination of all three, one thing is clear: the threat facing Toronto’s Jewish community is serious, organized and unacceptable.”
She called for all levels of government to come together and implement a coordinated strategy to disrupt these networks, condemn antisemitism and protect Jewish institutions.
MPP for York Centre, Michael Kerzner, said: “Today’s findings confirm that antisemitism is a threat to the values that define our province and country.”
“There is no place for antisemitism in Ontario. Anyone who targets others because of their faith, heritage, or identity will be held accountable. Our resolve to combat antisemitism remains unwavering.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said the Toronto Police Service update “should concern every Canadian” and comes at a time when extremists at home and foreign actors abroad have “weaponized events in the Middle East to fuel hatred and violence against Canadians.”
“The perpetrators of these shootings and those directing these attacks on Canadian soil must be held accountable. This is a matter of safeguarding Canada’s national security and our Canadian way of life.”