TORONTO — Toronto police have charged a 19-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy in connection with a July 27 shooting at the U.S. Consulate and a related arson three days earlier.Xen-Ul-Abdeen Syed, 19, was arrested on August 1. The 15-year-old male was arrested on August 5. The teenager's identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.Police say that at approximately 4:46 a.m. on July 27, an officer stationed outside the consulate at 360 University Avenue heard a gunshot and saw a newer-model white Honda Accord — stolen earlier the same day — fleeing southbound. Officers pursued the vehicle eastbound on Dundas Street East and then northbound on the Don Valley Parkway before ending the chase near Don Mills Road for public safety.Evidence of gunfire was found and damage was located on the stone façade above the front entrance. Security personnel were inside the building; no injuries were reported. The stolen vehicle was later found abandoned in Scarborough..Police investigate shooting outside U.S. Consulate in Toronto.Three days earlier, on July 24 at about 9:45 p.m., the same two suspects allegedly filled a red jerry can with gasoline at a station near Kingston Road and McCowan Road, drove to a residential street near Queen Street West and Mississauga Road in Caledon, poured the fuel on a vehicle in a driveway and set it on fire. No one was injured.Syed faces 15 charges, including discharge of a restricted or prohibited firearm into or at a place, attack on premises of internationally protected persons, possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, arson causing damage to property, and four counts of fail to comply. The youth faces 17 similar charges, including six counts of fail to comply with a release order.Both were scheduled to appear at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre.“These arrests reflect the outstanding work of our front-line officers and investigators, who moved quickly to identify those responsible for this attack on the U.S. Consulate,” Chief Myron Demkiw said. “But this investigation also highlights broader issues we continue to face. We believe these offences were carried out by criminals for hire, recruited and directed through encrypted messaging apps. We also continue to see too many people accused of serious offences breaching court-ordered conditions. We need meaningful deterrence, we need the tools to investigate those orchestrating these crimes, and we need the justice system to keep pace with the evolving threats to public safety.”.The Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force led the investigation with support from the Counter-Terrorism Security Unit. The RCMP and Integrated National Security Enforcement Team treated the consulate incident as a national security matter and opened a parallel investigation.Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-2510You can watch the full update below.
