Toronto Police arrested an 18-year-old man early on May 8, hours after three men leaving a synagogue were shot at with a replica firearm, in a drive-by shooting. One man suffered minor injuries in the incident.
A week earlier, on April 30, three people described by police as “visibly identifiable members of the Jewish community” walking in the Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue area were also shot at by a man wielding a replica gun, and suffered minor injuries.
In the more recent incident, on May 7, at around 10:45 p.m. three men leaving evening prayers at the Chasidei Bobov Synagogue, on Bathurst Street, near Wilson Avenue, were targeted. The suspects fled in a blue, Lexus SUV, police reported.
Ruslan Novruzov, of Vaughan, has been charged in connection with both incidents and is facing four counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. Police also seized two gel-blaster imitation firearms. The incidents are being investigated as suspected hate-motivated offences, according to a Toronto Police news release.
At a press conference outside the synagogue, acting deputy police chief Joe Matthews spoke to the concerns of the Jewish community.
“We recognize that Jewish residents have been living with a heightened sense of fear due to repeated incidents targeting their community, and this only adds to that, which is completely unacceptable. While the weapons used were imitation firearms, the impacts are very real,” he said.
“These are criminal acts that we allege were meant to intimidate and cause fear.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow visited the synagogue earlier in the day and spoke with its leaders. She did not address the media, but in a statement on social media she condemned the attack.
“The violent attack at Congregation Chasedei Bobov was a disgusting antisemitic hate crime. I want to thank Toronto Police for making a swift arrest. I also want to thank the congregation for welcoming me today and giving me the space to listen.,” the mayor posted on X.
“We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and I will always stand with Toronto’s Jewish community.”
Other politicians, both provincial and municipal, spoke at a press conference outside the synagogue after police announced the arrest.
“We are under attack like never before and antisemitism, a global virus that has metastasized, finds itself right here in Bathurst Street,” said Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “What we saw here last night at one of the most revered, respected and holiest synagogues in Canada is unacceptable.”
Kerzner, who represents the riding where the synagogue is located, urged people of other faiths to visibly support the Jewish community on Shabbat. “Come out to a synagogue, a congregation in our city and stand outside that congregation in solidarity. Stand, raise your voices,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Mike Colle and city councillors James Pasternak and Rachel Chernos Lin, who all represent wards where synagogues and schools have been shot at, said Toronto’s police force needs help from the provincial police force and the RCMP.
“We need more than just the Toronto police. They did a great job of making arrests, but it’s about time that the provincial and federal government stepped up and joined this fight against this viral terror attack on Toronto’s Jewish community,” Colle said. “We want to be able to walk the streets of Bathurst Street. We can’t right now, the Jewish community can’t. Something is dramatically wrong — more than this one arrest.”
Colle and Pasternak singled out the weekly anti-Israel protests at Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue which have gone on for two years, as one source of the hatred. “It violates many provisions of the Criminal Code and as long as that lasts, we will have problems throughout our city,” Pasternak said. “Moreover, it would never be allowed in any other minority neighbourhood.”
The drive-by shootings were the latest in a series of assaults on Jewish individuals and institutions in Toronto over the last two months. In March, shots were fired at three different synagogues in Toronto and York Region. Last week, police announced the arrest of suspect, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, in connection with two of those incidents. Toronto Police have also arrested a Brampton man for the shooting of a Jewish-owned restaurant in April.
Two weeks ago, a man, walking with his son to synagogue, was assaulted outside the Sephardic Kehila Centre. The same weekend, a rock was thrown through the window of a Judaica store, a few blocks from where the pellet-gun shootings occurred.
“The community is shaken and the community is angry,” Sara Lefton, chief development officer of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto told reporters outside the Bobov synagogue, shortly before Toronto police announced they had made an arrest. “We’re proud to be Jewish but there is constant intimidation and frankly terrorizing of this community…It’s also terrifying that it’s happening so quickly. There is an absolute rapid escalation of these events, shootings at synagogues, now shootings at people.
“We are grateful for some of the movement on funding, certainly coming to protect the Jewish community,” Lefton said. In its spring economic statement, the federal government announced it was increasing funding for the community security grant program.
“We’re also grateful for some of the legislative changes that have taken place, but the community is shaken and this is a much broader issue and we’re looking for leadership,” she said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Ontario Premier Doug Ford also spoke out on social media, commending police for the arrest and condemning the antisemitic nature of the attack. ·
“I am disgusted by the targeted antisemitic attacks that took place in North York over the last several days, including last night outside a synagogue. These attacks will not be tolerated and I’m pleased the Toronto Police have acted quickly in response and have a suspect in custody. I expect that all those who are responsible will be punished to the full extent of the law,” the premier said.