Suspect wanted in U.S. Consulate shooting has now been arrested: Toronto police

19-year-old Zara Jabbi has been arrested in connected to the shooting at the U.S. Consulate in March.

Toronto police say a 19-year-old suspect wanted in connection with a shooting at the U.S. Consulate back in March has now been arrested.

Police confirmed Thursday that Zara Jabbi has been taken into custody.

Jabbi, who will appear in court on Thursday, is facing several charges, including theft of a motor vehicle, possession of property obtained by crime, discharging a restricted or prohibited firearm at a place, and attack on premises of internationally protected persons.

The shooting occurred on March 10 at around 5:30 a.m. at the University Avenue building.

Police allege that a white Honda CR-V was heading west on Dundas Street when the driver turned south onto University Avenue, stopping in front of the consulate.

Two male suspects exited the vehicle, police said, and discharged firearms, damaging glass and the doors of the building. Police also allege that the suspects recorded video of the shooting on their phones. No injuries were reported.

The vehicle they were travelling in, which had been stolen shortly before the shooting, was later found abandoned in Scarborough, police confirmed.

One other suspect, identified as 18-year-old Sheldon Tracy-Stewart, was previously arrested during the execution of of five search warrants in the city on June 11.

Const. Marc Pinizzotto was fatally shot at a fourth-floor apartment building on Martha Eaton Way in North York while executing one of those warrants.

The suspect in the officer’s murder, identified by investigators as 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett, was shot multiple times by another officer who was standing behind Pinizzotto. Bennett, who was hospitalized with critical injuries after the shooting, will face one count of first-degree murder, police said.

‘Criminals for hire’

Two firearms seized during the June 11 raids have been linked to 27 shooting incidents throughout the GTA, including the consulate shooting, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said during a news conference earlier this week.

Demkiw confirmed that the suspects in the consulate shooting were among a growing group of young people who are being recruited in gun-for-hire schemes.

He said a concerning trend has emerged in Toronto where younger people are being paid by “bad actors” to shoot at various targets.

“What we are dealing with in this case and in other unrelated incidences, including shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools, is a recurring and similar modus operandi and that is criminals for hire,” Demkiw said Tuesday.

“Through encrypted messaging apps, young people are hired to carry out attacks against various targets and in order to get paid, they are required to film their attacks. Who is paying for this? This is what we are trying to determine.”