Toronto police have arrested and charged an 18 year old man in connection with a shooting at the United States Consulate in Toronto earlier this year. The suspect, identified as Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, was taken into custody as part of an investigation that has now turned deadly. The case has drawn heightened attention because it unfolded just as Canada tightens security around its World Cup host cities.
The shooting itself dates back to March, when, according to police, a handgun was fired at the US Consulate in Toronto. Investigators allege the act was likely to endanger the life of the Consul-General, Baxter Hunt. No one was reported injured in the incident, but authorities said from the outset that they were treating it as a national security matter rather than an ordinary crime.
Tracy-Stewart now faces a series of charges stemming from the case. He has been charged with multiple counts, including discharging a firearm, illegal firearm possession and vehicle theft. The charges reflect the seriousness with which police and prosecutors are treating an attack on a foreign diplomatic mission on Canadian soil.
The arrest follows a far graver development for the Toronto Police Service. Constable Marc Pinizzotto, a member of the force's Emergency Task Force, was shot and killed while officers were executing search warrants connected to the consulate investigation. The operation ended in an exchange of gunfire, and the death of the veteran officer has cast a shadow over the entire case.
The raids that cost the officer his life were tied to investigations into multiple shootings, including the one at the consulate. Police have said an alleged accomplice remained at large in the immediate aftermath of the searches. Officers have been working to track down those still being sought as the investigation continues to widen.
Police have now named the man accused of killing the officer. During the execution of a search warrant on June 11, they allege that Nicholas Bennett, 19, of Toronto, shot and killed Constable Marc Pinizzotto, and said he will be charged with first-degree murder. Bennett is also to be charged in connection with two earlier shootings, one in Scarborough on March 25 and one in Etobicoke on March 26, along with multiple firearm offences and a breach of probation. The death itself is being examined by the province's Special Investigations Unit.
Investigators also set out how the firearms tie the cases together. The second man arrested, Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, 18, of Toronto, was charged in relation to the consulate shooting, and the loaded Glock 17 9mm handgun seized at his arrest has since been connected to six additional shootings across the Greater Toronto Area, in Toronto, Peel, York and Durham. The other weapon recovered that morning, a Springfield Armory XD .45 calibre handgun, could be linked to as many as 21 further shooting incidents in Halton, Peel and Toronto, including the attack on the consulate, though ballistic testing is still ongoing. Both handguns, police said, originated in the United States.
The force pointed to a broader and troubling pattern behind the violence. In this case, and in other unrelated incidents that have included shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, police described a similar method they call criminals for hire. Through encrypted messaging apps, young people are recruited to carry out attacks against various targets, and in order to be paid, they are required to film what they do. Police said one suspect, 19-year-old Zahra Jabi, remained outstanding and wanted in connection with the consulate shooting, and that they had obtained judicial authorisation to publish his identity to help find him.
Beyond the events in Toronto, US authorities have linked the consulate case to what they describe as an international campaign by Iranian backed groups against targets in Europe and North America. That framing has placed the shooting in a much larger context, connecting a single incident in Canada to a broader pattern of alleged attacks abroad.
As part of that wider effort, the FBI arrested Mohammad Al-Saadi, described as a senior member of a US-designated terrorist organization. He is alleged to be tied to nearly twenty attacks across Europe and the United States, as well as two attacks in Canada. The arrests on both sides of the border underline how seriously investigators are treating the threat as major sporting events bring crowds and scrutiny to Canadian cities.