Toronto police have announced that dozens of shootings across the Greater Toronto Area — including a March attack on the US consulate and several targeting synagogues and Jewish schools — are connected to a "multilayered" criminal-for-hire network that recruits young people through encrypted messaging apps such as Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp. Police chief Myron Demkiw said shooters are paid to carry out attacks and must film them as proof of completion, while two seized handguns have been linked to 27 separate incidents. The investigation follows the killing of veteran officer Constable Marc Pinizzotto during a related raid last week, and authorities — working alongside the FBI — are still seeking to identify those who organised and funded the network, including possible links to a global terror network tied to Iran.