Police are investigating the shooting outside the US consulate in Toronto as a “national security incident.”
The Canadian Officers were called to the scene around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, where they found spent shell casings and damage to the building, city Deputy Police Chief Frank Barredo said.
Witnesses said a white SUV was parked outside the consulate before a gun was fired in front of the building and two people got out. The pair then got back into the vehicle and left.
Police said people were inside at the time, but no one was injured.
Forensic experts identify gunshot damage on the building. Image: AP
Chris Leather, chief superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the shooting was being investigated as a “national security incident” but that it was too early to determine a motive.
Security around US and Israeli consulates TorontoAnd embassies in Ottawa have been beefed up as a precaution, he said.
The shooting comes just days after two synagogues were hit by gunfire in the Toronto area.
Police officers outside a US consulate. Image: Reuters
The mayor of Toronto, Olivia Chow, said: “The shooting at the US consulate. This comes after shootings at synagogues. This cannot stop.
“Toronto’s Jewish community has the right to practice their faith and culture and live their daily lives without fear, intimidation or violence.”
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Police vehicles are stopped by the US consulate after being hit by gunfire in Toronto. Image: AP
“As we have seen many times, anti-Semitic incidents increase when international incidents increase. Targeting the Jewish community is never acceptable,” added Ms Chow. US-Israel attacks on IranThis has prompted large gatherings of both support and protest outside the US consulate.
While it was too early to draw a connection between the consulate shooting and the two synagogues, “we don’t see them separately,” Mr. Barredo said.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford described the shooting as a “totally unacceptable act of violence and intimidation aimed at our American friends and neighbors.”
“Everyone at all levels of government and across Canada needs to make it clear that there is zero tolerance for this type of intimidating and dangerous behavior,” he said.
