Toronto Jewish school targeted by gunfire during Yom Kippur, in 2nd attack in months
Trudeau says he’s ‘very disturbed’ by incident, which comes amid dramatic rise in antisemitic attacks in the country as war rages in Middle East
A Jewish school in Toronto was hit by gunfire early Saturday for the second time this year, local police said, amid a rise in antisemitic attacks in Canada in the wake of the war between Israel and Iran-backed terror groups in the Middle East.
No one was injured after shots were fired from a vehicle at around 4 a.m. local time at the Bais Chaya Mushka girls school, with the only damage being a broken window, according to authorities.
The school in the North York area of Toronto was targeted in a similar incident in May, and police believe the two shootings are connected.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “very disturbed” by the incident, which came as the Jewish community celebrated Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
“As we wait for more details, my heart goes out to the students, staff and parents who must be terrified and hurting today,” Trudeau said in a post on X.
“Antisemitism is a disgusting and dangerous form of hate — and we won’t let it stand,” he added.
I’m very disturbed to hear that last night, as families marked Yom Kippur, there were shots fired at a Jewish school in Toronto.
As we wait for more details, my heart goes out to the students, staff, and parents who must be terrified and hurting today.…
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) October 12, 2024
According to a report published in May by Jewish organization B’nai Brith Canada, antisemitic acts more than doubled in the country between 2022 and 2023.
In November 2023, a Jewish school in Montreal was hit by gunfire twice in one week. There were no injuries.
In late May, a Vancouver synagogue was damaged in a suspected arson attack.
And in August, dozens of Jewish institutions across Canada received a threatening email saying bombs had been planted on their premises and would be detonated.
Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, told The Times of Israel in an interview this year that “it’s clear from the data we’re seeing, particularly coming from police units across Canada, that there’s a huge increase in antisemitism in terms of hate crimes happening.”
