Shots fired at US consulate in Toronto, investigators searching for 2 suspects: Police
A general view shows Toronto police securing the area after a âfirearm dischargeâ at the US Consulate in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 10, 2026. (Mert Alper Dervis/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(TORONTO) — Investigators are looking for two suspects and clues after shots were fired at the U.S. consulate in Toronto on Tuesday morning.
There were people inside the building at the time, but no one was injured, Toronto Police Service Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said. Officers got a call about the shooting around 5:29 a.m., and found shell casings and damage to the building when they arrived, he noted.
Witnesses observed two people emerging from a white Honda CR-V and discharge a handgun at the consulate before driving away, according to Barredo.
“This is very early in the investigation. It is very active, and we are aggressively assigning investigative resources to determine what happened and to bring the offenders to justice,” he told reporters.
Chris Leather, the chief superintendent for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Ontario Criminal Operations, told reporters that it is “being treated as a national security incident,” and prompted increased security around embassies in Toronto and Ottawa.
“There will be no tolerance for any form of intimidation, harassment, or harmful targeting of any communities or individuals in Canada. We want to ensure that everyone’s safety and security remain at the forefront of everything we do,” he said.
Leather noted that it was too early to determine if the shooting was linked to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
The RCMP is in communication with the FBI and other U.S. agencies, Leather said.
He noted that recent incidents in Toronto and elsewhere have prompted a need for heightened vigilance and security around diplomatic missions, expressing hope that these measures will help “bring the temperature down in the coming days and weeks.”
The Cuban flag waves outside of the Embassy of Cuba in Washington, DC on October 3, 2017, in Washington, DC. The U.S. orders on Tuesday the expulsion of 15 Cuban Diplomats from the Washington DC Embassy. (Photo by Olivier Douliery/Getty Images)
(CUBA) — Four people on a speedboat were killed and another six injured in a “confrontation” near Cuba’s coast after those on board the United States-registered vessel opened fire on Cuban troops, according to the Cuban Ministry of the Interior.
As Border Guard troops approached the boat for identification after it was detected in Cuban waters, those on board the speedboat “opened fire,” injuring the commander of the Cuban vessel, the ministry said.
“As a consequence of the confrontation, as of the time of this report, four aggressors on the foreign vessel were killed and six were injured,” the ministry said in a statement released by the Cuban Embassy in the United States.
Those injured were evacuated and received medical assistance, it said.
The speedboat was registered in Florida, according to the ministry. It approached Wednesday morning about 1 nautical mile northeast of the El Pino channel, in Cayo Falcones in the Villa Clara province, the ministry said.
When reached for comment, the U.S. Coast Guard, White House and other related agencies referred ABC News to the State Department.
“In the face of current challenges, Cuba reaffirms its determination to protect its territorial waters, based on the principle that national defense is a fundamental pillar of the Cuban State in safeguarding its sovereignty and ensuring stability in the region,” the Cuban Ministry of the Interior said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
People gather during protest on January 8, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. (Anonymous/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — More than 2,500 people have died during nationwide protests in Iran over the past 17 days, activists said Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his support for demonstrators and hinted at potential American intervention against the government in Tehran.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it had verified a total of 2,571 deaths — and is reviewing reports of 779 other deaths — since the protests began on Dec. 28.
The confirmed deaths include 2,403 adult protesters, 12 protesters under the age of 18, 147 government-affiliated personnel and nine non-protesting civilians, HRANA said.
Another 1,134 protesters have been seriously injured, HRANA said, with at least 18,137 people arrested.
The HRANA data relies on the work of activists inside and outside the country. ABC News cannot independently verify these numbers. The Iranian government has not provided any civilian death tolls related to the ongoing protests.
As casualties mounted, Trump wrote on social media on Tuesday, “Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”
“I have cancelled all meetings with Iranian Officials until the senseless killing of protesters STOPS. HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” Trump added.
When later pressed by a reporter during a visit to Michigan on Tuesday on what he meant by help is on its way, Trump responded, “You’re gonna have to figure that one out, I’m sorry.”
Trump said he thought it was “a good idea” for Americans to evacuate from Iran. The State Department on Tuesday said that all U.S. citizens should leave the country.
Trump said he hasn’t been given an accurate number of how many people have been killed so far in the protests, but said “one is a lot.”
“I think it’s a lot. It’s too many, whatever it is,” he said.
Later Tuesday, he told reporters that he will be receiving “accurate numbers” on how many protesters have been killed in Iran soon and “we’ll act accordingly.”
Trump on Monday announced a 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran. The president and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested other options are also still under discussion.
One U.S. official told ABC News that among the options under consideration are new sanctions against key regime figures or against Iran’s energy or banking sectors.
Members of Trump’s national security team — including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and CIA Director John Ratcliffe — met Tuesday morning to discuss Iran, according to Leavitt. Trump did not attend the meeting, nor was he scheduled to, she said.
Vice President JD Vance also led an Iran strategy meeting on Tuesday afternoon with the National Security Council principals committee, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting confirmed to ABC News.
Iranian officials have threatened retaliatory strikes against U.S. and Israeli targets in the event of any outside intervention.
Protests have been spreading across the country since late December. The first marches took place in downtown Tehran, with participants demonstrating against rising inflation and the falling value of the national currency, the rial.
As the protests spread, they have taken on a more explicitly anti-government tone.
Government forces have responded with a major security crackdown. A sustained national internet outage has also been in place across the country. Online monitoring group NetBlocks said on Wednesday that the blackout had surpassed 132 hours.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and top Iranian officials have said they are willing to engage with the economic grievances of protesters, though have framed the unrest as driven by “rioters” and “terrorists” sponsored by foreign nations — prime among them the U.S. and Israel — and supported by foreign infiltrators.
The head of Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, suggested Wednesday that there would be expedited trials and executions for those who have been arrested in the nationwide protests.
“If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly,” Mohseni-Ejei said in a video shared online by Iranian state television, according to The Associated Press.
“If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect,” Mohseni-Ejei said.
On Wednesday, President Masoud Pezeshkian was quoted by state media telling a meeting with Economy Ministry officials that if economic conditions were improved, “we wouldn’t be witnessing their protests on the streets.”
Dissident figures abroad have urged Iranians to press the protests and topple the government in Tehran.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi — who from his base in the U.S. has become a prominent critic of the Iranian government — on Monday appealed to Trump to act in support of the protesters.
On Tuesday, Pahlavi called on members of the Iranian military to join the protests. “You are the national military of Iran, not the military of the Islamic Republic,” he wrote on X.
“You have a duty to protect the lives of your compatriots,” Pahlavi added. “You do not have much time. Join them as soon as possible.”
Flowers are laid after a fire broke out overnight at Le Constellation bar on January 01, 2026 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. (Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images)
(CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland) — Investigators probing the deadly New Year’s Day fire at a Swiss resort bar are looking into the possibility that it started from sparklers that were too close to the ceiling.
Beatrice Pilloud, Valais Attorney General, told reporters Friday that investigators were still conducting interviews and going through evidence from the wreckage at the Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana but she said that they are “pursuing several hypotheses,” based on the evidence they’ve gathered so far.
“We currently assume that the fire was caused by sparklers attached to champagne bottles that came too close to the ceiling,” she said at a news conference.
“Initial evidence has been secured at the scene,” Pilloud added.
Forty people were killed and 119 people were injured in the blaze, according to authorities who said the fire spread very rapidly.
Investigators are working to identify the deceased victims.
“No mistakes can be permitted. We need to give the correct remains back to the families,” Pierre-Antoine Lengen, the head of the Swiss Judicial Police, told reporters.
Of the injured, 71 were Swiss citizens, 14 were French, 11 were Italian, and others were from Bosnia, Serbia, Portugal and Belgium, according to officials.
The nationalities of the 14 other injured victims were not immediately determined.
Pilloud said that more interviews will be conducted and noted that investigators spoke with the two French managers of the bar.
“For now, there is no penal liability which has been identified,” she said when a reporter asked about any liability.
Investigators are also looking into the building’s safety measures and building regulations, according to Pilloud.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
