pc28police are investigating a spate of shootings targeting illegal magic mushroom dispensaries across the city over the last three nights.
Eight incidents have been reported, police said. Businesses were shot at in seven of the incidents and in the eighth, a vehicle was driven through the front of a dispensary — with no one inside the vehicle at the time, police said.
On Friday, officers responded to a call for gunshots near just after 4:30 a.m.
Later Friday, about 12 bullet holes were visible in the window of the Mushroom Trip dispensary, its glass door completely smashed.
Nearby resident Lisa Tassone said she was woken up by something that “sounded like someone threw something at the house.”
“It felt like it shook,” she said. “I was scared to look out my window, because I had never heard such a noise. Never.”
Tassone said the shooting is “absolutely” a public safety concern. “We’re scared,” she said.
No injuries have been reported in any of the incidents. Police did not say where the seven other incidents occurred.
Funguyz locations were also targeted in pc28and outside the city, according to an employee.
“All of them (were targeted), pretty much. Even the one up in Barrie,” said a person who answered the Funguyz main phone number but would not identify themself.
CTV reported that shots were fired three days ago at a Brantford Funguyz location, and police reported that there were shootings in Kensington Market, and media images show what look like bullet holes at the Funguyz’s Kensington Market location on Baldwin Street.
Barrie Police confirmed there was an incident at a mushroom dispensary. There is a Funguyz location at 59 Collier St.
“We responded to an occurrence at a store located on Collier St. at 6:01 a.m. this morning where a motor vehicle came in contact with the store. We have not had any occurrences involving the discharge of a firearm,” said a statement from Barrie Police.
“We’ve been in contact with other mushroom dispensaries, like Shroomyz and some other ones. They targeted all of us. But from the cameras, they looked like young kids, not very professional,” said a man who gave his name as Stefan, who represents Funguyz. The operators of this chain have used pseudonyms when talking to the media. “It’s also happening all over the province too.”
He said all the attacks came after the places were closed, and they were glad no one was hurt, but he was concerned about people who may live above some of the Funguyz locations.
“We’re concerned about the public safety, we don’t want anyone to get hurt, and we just want to run our businesses,” he said.
He said he had no idea who was behind it, or what the motivation to strike now is, as many of the these locations had operated without any violent incidents for years.
The Funguyz chain of magic mushroom dispensaries is one of the best known, at one point having almost 30 locations in Ontario and Quebec. The organization made recent news by first saying in November 2024 that they were shutting down locations and moving online. That only lasted about a month, and then company began re-opening locations.
“Many of our customers didn’t want to order online and told us they wanted us to keep the storefronts open,” Stefan told the Star in an interview in late January.
As well, in April, York Region Police (YRP) announced that , $3.5 million worth of magic mushrooms and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) were seized and 15 people were charged.
YRP executed 29 search warrants and seized 181 kilograms of dried psilocybin, 137 kilograms of edible psilocybin, 167,645 psilocybin capsules, 179 grams of dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 541 grams of illicit cannabis, more than $450,000 in cash and a property worth over $1 million.
Investigators also issued arrest warrants for two individuals, Mozda Karim, who is believed to be in Great Britain, and Samer Akila, who is believed to have fled to Egypt.
While many magic mushroom dispensaries had been raided over the past few years, it was usually front-facing customer service employees getting arrested, as opposed to the leaders of the operation. York Region Police focused on the entire Funguyz organization and aimed to target those in charge.
“There were recent judge’s decisions on employees that were arrested in magic mushroom stores where it became very clear that the judges expected that police should be going after the controlling minds of these businesses rather than focusing on the employees,” said Detective Mike Cook of York Region Police.
“It’s a profit-driven machine that is blatantly committing criminal activity, hiding behind, ‘oh, we’re trying to push for legalization.’”
Magic mushrooms are illegal in Canada and selling them is considered drug trafficking. Despite that, many magic mushroom selling businesses have been brazenly operating out in the open.
The integrated gun-and-gang task force and centralized shooting response teams are actively investigating and urging anyone with information to contact police.
This file has been updated — May 16, 2025
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation