Toronto Shooting Network Traced to Tehran; Investigation Reveals Iranian-Linked Logistics Pipeline

A Toronto police investigation into a series of shootings across the Greater Toronto Area has uncovered evidence linking the attacks to a coordinated network with origins in Tehran, according to confidential police sources. The probe intensified after an early-morning raid in which Constable Marc Pinizzotto was killed during an exchange of gunfire. Ballistic testing connected firearms recovered at the scene to 27 separate shootings, prompting investigators to examine potential geopolitical dimensions to the violence.

Police Chief Myron Demkiw revealed that investigators identified a recurring recruitment pattern in which teenagers and low-level gang members were enlisted through encrypted messaging applications including Telegram, WhatsApp, and Signal to carry out attacks for payment. In some instances, recruits were allegedly instructed to film the shootings as proof of completion. The investigation has revealed what authorities believe is a traceable logistics, supply, and equipment pipeline linking Toronto-based suspects to individuals and networks operating from Iran.

Among those charged is 18-year-old Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, who was wounded and arrested during the raid. Another suspect, 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, remains at large. The Toronto investigation parallels a separate U.S. terrorism case involving Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi, an Iraqi national charged in New York. According to U.S. court documents, al-Saadi allegedly coordinated attacks linked to Iranian interests abroad and acknowledged in a recorded conversation that associates in his network carried out the shooting at the US Consulate in Toronto, purportedly in retaliation for American actions against Iran.

The emerging investigation has also drawn attention to an armed attack on a Toronto sports club owned by Iranian-Canadian activist Salar Gholami in early March, when gunmen fired at least 17 rounds at the facility. Gholami, a prominent opposition activist, believes the attack should be examined as part of the broader network under investigation. Members of Canada's Iranian community have called for closer scrutiny of threats against dissidents as authorities work to determine the full scope of the network's operations. The findings have raised concerns among investigators that criminal groups in Canada may have been leveraged to facilitate operations tied to broader geopolitical objectives.