Canadian police said on Tuesday they had linked multiple shootings, including at the US consulate in Toronto in March, to “multi-layered” gun-for-hire networks that also targeted synagogues in the city.

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw told a news conference that these networks were recruiting young adults through encrypted messages and paying them to carry out shootings and film them.

Some of the firearms used in the attacks had since been seized by investigators.

A veteran police officer was killed last week in a raid related to an investigation into the shooting.

“What we know is bad actors are using criminal elements in our city to carry out these dangerous incidents,” he said.

“It’s clear some of the people hiring these criminals want to create a sense of fear in our communities, including the Jewish community.”

Mr Demkiw said the Toronto police, along with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the FBI, were trying to determine who was paying for the attacks.

Two firearms recovered during the investigation, suspected to be involved in over 25 shootings in the Toronto area, originated in the US, he said. Ballistics testing was still ongoing.

Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was shot during a search at an apartment building in the capital city’s northwest on Thursday. He later died in hospital.

A suspect who was shot by officers, Nicholas Bennett, 19, remained in hospital and would be charged with first-degree murder.

Investigators are searching for another suspect, 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, who is wanted in connection with the US consulate shooting and believed to be armed and dangerous.