By Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone
TORONTO, July 27 (Reuters) - At least one shot was fired outside the U.S. Consulate in downtown Toronto early on Monday but there were no injuries, police said, in the second such incident in the last four months.
Police officers, alerted by the sound of a gunshot, said they found evidence of a weapon having been fired outside the building on University Avenue.
Police said that a white sedan was seen fleeing the scene and added that no injuries were reported.
On March 10, several shots were fired at the same building, following three separate incidents in which gunshots were fired at synagogues in the Toronto area. Police increased security outside the U.S. and Israeli consulates in Toronto, Canada's largest city, in response.
In June police said, without providing any more details, that young people in the Toronto area were being paid to shoot at various targets, including synagogues, Jewish schools and the U.S. Consulate. Police arrested three people in connection with the March shooting, and one police officer was killed during the operation.
A U.S. Department of State spokesperson said the U.S. was working closely with Canadian authorities following the incident. The spokesperson said the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Canada remained open and were operating normally, although some routine consular services in Toronto were being rescheduled.
“We appreciate the ongoing cooperation between U.S. and Canadian law enforcement to keep our consulate safe,” the spokesperson said.
Toronto Deputy Police Chief Frank Barredo said an officer assigned to the U.S. Consulate security detail heard a gunshot at about 4:46 a.m. EDT (0046 GMT). Police later recovered a shell casing and found damage to the front of the building. Police also briefly pursued a vehicle seen leaving the area but discontinued the chase because of its high speed, he said.
Barredo declined to comment on a possible motive and on whether the shooting was linked to previous incidents at the U.S. Consulate.
"We'll point out that it is quite early in this investigation. Some information I may not be able to share, and some information I simply may not know at this point."
Ontario Premier Doug Ford condemned the shooting as well as vandalism at two Jewish bakeries in the city over the weekend.
"I’m totally disgusted by the shootings and vandalism that took place in Toronto over the last few days, including at two Jewish-owned businesses over the weekend and near the U.S. Consulate this morning," he wrote on X. "In all cases, active police investigations are underway. I expect all those responsible to be found, prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law."
(Reporting by Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone; Additional reporting by Maria Cheng; Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Caroline Stauffer, Nick Zieminski, Hugh Lawson and David Gaffen)
