Shooting at U.S. Consulate in Toronto sparks concerns about Iranian sleeper cells

Canadian police said two gunmen opened fire early Tuesday on the U.S. consulate in downtown Toronto and authorities are investigating the shooting as a national security incident.

Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said no one was injured in the 4:30 a.m. incident in which the gunmen exited a white Honda SUV and shot at the heavily fortified building.

“It is very secure. The glass and the walls are reinforced and so I don’t believe there was any penetration into the building. It’s quite possible that people in the building would not have even noticed,” Chief Barredo said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested the shooting could be related to the ongoing U.S.-Israel air campaign against Iran in which Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed late last month.

“This is just me speaking. I believe that there are sleeper cells all over the world, as we know,” Mr. Ford said. “They are in the U.S, they are in Canada here. We have to weed these people out and hold them accountable.”

Iran is known to respond to acts of aggression with asymmetric warfare in the form of “lone wolf” actors or attacks on cybersecurity or physical infrastructure.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Superintendent Chris Leather said national investigators are working to pin down a motive for the shooting.

He added that police are providing extra security at American and Israeli consulates, as well as at their respective embassies in Ottawa.

Two Toronto-area synagogues have been targeted in shootings since the war broke out with Iran.

In Washington, the State Department said it was aware ⁠of the shooting at the consulate and that it was coordinating next steps with local law enforcement.

In Norway, an attacker detonated an improvised explosive device early Sunday near the U.S. Embassy in Oslo early Sunday.

Frode Larsen, the head of the Oslo police investigation, said such incidents are more common given the new U.S. military campaign.

“One of our hypotheses is that this is terrorism, but we are also exploring other options,” Mr. Larsen told public broadcaster NRK.

The attacks abroad follow potential terror-fueled attacks at home.

Two counter-protesters claiming allegiance to the Islamic State threw a homemade bomb at a weekend rally opposing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who is Muslim.

Charging documents said both men claimed to have been inspired by Islamic State, and one of the suspects said he wanted his bombing attempt to inflict more damage than the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Three people were killed in that terror attack.

Less than a day after Khamenei was killed by U.S. military forces, a gunman carried out a mass shooting in Austin, Texas.

Police said three people were killed and 19 were wounded before officers fatally shot Ndiaga Diagne, a native of Senegal who became a U.S. citizen in 2013.

The FBI said it is investigating the shooting as a possible terror attack after Diagne was spotted wearing a “Property of Allah” sweatshirt and an Iranian flag T-shirt during his rampage.