Man jailed for opening fire at Montreal school in November 2023

A man is jailed for 66 months for opening fire at a school in Montreal in November 2023, the Montreal Gazette reports.

“A person who commits this kind of an attack on schools is, in the eyes of this court, a coward. I have nothing else to say,” says Judge Pierre Labelle as he sentences 23-year-old Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed.

With time served, Ahmed will remain behind bars for over 21 months, the report says.

The Gazette reports that Ahmed carried out the attack on the Yeshiva Gadola along with an accomplice who was acquitted in the case, but still faces charges relating to the stolen vehicle.

The same school had been attacked a number of days earlier. There were no injuries in either attack.

“It was a place consecrated to the education, the security and protection of children. The attack was perceived by the community, including the parents and the students and their families, as an attack on the Jewish community,” Labelle says. “Acts of hate, attacks on schools or places of worship have a concrete and lasting effect on the whole of the Jewish community.”

Canada has seen a surge in antisemitism since October 7, 2023.