US Consulate in Toronto fired upon for second time this year

Toronto police are searching for a white sedan after a shooting at the U.S. Consulate early Monday morning, the second such incident at the building this year. Officers responded to reports of gunfire near University Avenue and Armoury Street around 4:45 a.m. and found evidence of a firearm discharge outside the consulate, police said in an update just before noon. A single shell casing was recovered, and the building sustained damage, but no injuries were reported, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy.

Deputy Chief Frank Barredo told reporters that a white Honda Accord with no license plates was seen fleeing the scene. Police briefly pursued the vehicle on the Don Valley Parkway near Don Mills Road but disengaged due to safety concerns over the high speed. Barredo said it was too early to determine a motive or how many people were in the vehicle. "We will approach this situation with great seriousness," he said. "We will bring the people responsible for this to justice."

The area around the consulate has been cordoned off, with part of University Avenue closed at Dundas Street to southbound traffic and pedestrians. More than a dozen police vehicles, including a forensics unit, are on site. The shooting comes just over four months after the consulate was targeted on March 10. No one was injured in that incident, which the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) called a "national security incident." Toronto police had stationed officers near the consulate in the months following the March shooting. Multiple people were later arrested in connection with that attack as part of a broader investigation into shootings across the city, in which police believe young people were hired to commit gun crimes.

According to Mehr News, citing local U.S. media, the investigation is ongoing, and police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.