A shooting outside the US consulate in Toronto is being investigated by police as a “national security incident”.
The Canadian city’s deputy police chief Frank Barredo said officers were called to the scene at around 5.30am on Tuesday, where they found spent shell casings and damage to the building.
Witnesses said a white SUV had stopped outside the consulate and two men got out, before a handgun was fired at the front of the building. The pair then got back in the vehicle and drove away.
People were inside at the time, but no one was injured, police said.
Chris Leather, chief superintendent of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said the shooting was being investigated as a “national security incident” but added it was too early to determine a motive.
Security around the US and Israeli consulates in Toronto, and embassies in Ottawa, has been increased as a precaution, he added.
The shooting comes just days after two synagogues were struck by gunfire in the Toronto area.
Toronto’s mayor, Olivia Chow, said: “The US consulate was shot at. This comes after shootings at synagogues. This cannot stand.
“Toronto’s Jewish community has the right to practice their faith and culture and to live their day-to-day lives without fear, intimidation or violence.”
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“As we have seen too many times, antisemitic incidents spike when international incidents rise. It is never acceptable to target the Jewish community,” Ms Chow added, referring to US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which have prompted large gatherings outside the US consulate, both in support and protest.
Mr Barredo said that while it was too early to draw a connection between the consulate shooting and those at the two synagogues, “we do not look at them in isolation”.
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Ontario premier Doug Ford described the shooting as “an absolutely unacceptable act of violence and intimidation aimed at our American friends and neighbours”.
“Everyone at all levels of government and across Canada needs to make clear that there is zero tolerance for this sort of intimidating and dangerous behaviour,” he added.
