Toronto Police Services and York Regional Police announced they have arrested an 18-year-old man of no fixed address, in connection with shootings at two Toronto-area synagogues in March.
The suspect’s identity is withheld under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as he was 17 at the time of the shootings. He faces seven gun-related charges, including two counts of discharge of a firearm into a place and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
The shootings occurred late on March 6 and early March 7, when shots were fired first at Beth Avraham Yoseph Synagogue of Toronto (BAYT) in Thornhill, and then at Shaarei Shomayim Synagogue in Toronto. No injuries were reported, but two people were inside the BAYT cleaning up, at the time of the shooting.
Toronto Police’s Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force, supported by the newly formed Counter-Terrorism Security Unit, which includes the Hate Crime Unit, along with York Region’s Firearms Investigations Team and Hate Crime Prevention Unit, investigated the incidents.
The two shootings are among several incidents over the last few months that have left the region’s Jewish community on edge. On the evening of March 2, a few hours after Purim celebrations concluded, shots were fired at Temple Emanu-El in North York. No suspects have been identified or arrests made in connection with that incident.
On April 3, shots were fired at the Jewish-owned restaurant, Old Avenue, in North York. Toronto Police announced five days later they had arrested a 35-year-old man in connection with that incident.
Over the last two weeks, assaults and vandalism have continued to rock the Jewish community’s sense of safety: On April 25, during Shabbat morning services, a suspect punched a synagogue-goer walking with his son outside the Sephardic Kehila Centre in Thornhill. The suspect had tried to get inside during services, but was stopped by security officers. The next morning, a rock was thrown through the window of Aleph Bet Judaica shop in North York.
On April 30, a group of visibly Jewish people in the Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West area. The victims reportedly sustained minor injuries in what the Toronto Police Service is investigating as a hate crime.
The weapon suspected in the assault was described by police as an Orbeez-type gun, a gel blaster type of replica firearm often filled with water beads and used for recreational purposes. They are not prohibited but often confiscated if they too closely resemble a genuine firearm.