Toronto Police Search for Suspects After Gunshots Fired at Jewish School for 2nd Time

A Toronto Police Service logo patch is shown in Toronto on Sept. 5, 2023. The Canadian Press/Spencer Colby

Toronto police are searching for suspects after a Jewish elementary school was shot at for the second time in the early morning hours of Oct. 12.

Suspects in a vehicle shot at the Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School on Dufferin Street and Finch Ave. West, according to the Toronto Police Service (TPS).

Police said the incident happened around 4 a.m. on Oct. 12.

There were no reports of injuries. Investigators found evidence of gunfire at the scene, and a window was smashed.

Police said at this point it’s not confirmed whether the incident is a hate crime, but given that it’s the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the attack could have been motivated by hatred.

“It is Yom Kippur, and a Jewish school has been shot up. So that is why the hate crime unit is a big part of this investigation,” Insp. Paul Krawczyk said.

Anyone with information has been asked to contact police.

The attack marks the second time the school has been targeted in less than 6 months.

In May, TPS said they were increasing their presence around the school after it was shot at in the early hours of May 25.

During that incident, police said the suspects arrived at the school in a dark-coloured vehicle, exited the vehicle, and “opened fire at the school.” The suspects then got back in the vehicle and left the scene.

There was some damage to the front of the school as a result, police said at the time.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was disturbed to hear about the shooting on Oct. 12.

“I’m very disturbed to hear that last night, as families marked Yom Kippur, there were shots fired at a Jewish school in Toronto,” Trudeau said in an Oct. 12 post on the X platform.

Trudeau said his heart goes out to the students, staff, and parents connected to the school.

“Antisemitism is a disgusting and dangerous form of hate—and we won’t let it stand,” he wrote.

Noting that Saturday is Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days of the year in Judaism, Trudeau had said on Oct. 11 that there has been a “sharp rise in antisemitism.”

“This year, Yom Kippur comes at a time of tragic loss and pain, as we mark one year since the horrific October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas,” Trudeau said in his Oct. 11 statement.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said the attack was a “disgusting act of antisemitism.”

“These people need to be caught. They need to be thrown in jail,” he said on Oct. 12.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the attack was motivated by “disgusting hate.”

“I reiterate that the students of Bais Chaya Mushka have the right to learn, and the teachers have a right to teach, in safety and without fear of antisemitic attacks,” she said on Oct. 12.

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre also commented about the shooting on social media.

“This is yet another shameful and terrifyingly common antisemitic attack in Canada in 2024,” he said in an X post.

He said if his party is elected into government, it will be tough on such crimes.

“I will ban the terrorists, secure our borders, lock up criminals and bring home safety for all,” Poilievre said.

Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israel’s special envoy for combatting antisemitism, said in reaction to the shooting on Oct. 12 on social media that antisemitism “has been mainstreamed & normalized, sounding sirens & alerting of existential threat to the security of all places it infects.”

Jennifer Cowan and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.