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 is "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 Toronto's scope and are national, if not international.