Suspect in Canada’s Yom Kippur shooting has died, authorities say

By Laura Sharman, Hanna Park, Max Saltman, CNN

(CNN) — A police officer was shot and wounded near a synagogue in Ontario, Canada, on Sunday evening during an exchange of gunfire with a 29-year-old man armed with a shotgun as congregants gathered for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, officials said.

The alleged shooter later died in the hospital after being admitted “in life threatening condition,” authorities announced on Tuesday.

Asked whether the incident could be considered a “terrorist attack” Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) spokesperson Kristy Denette said Monday that “common sense would say that probably was the case.” However, she emphasized that the SIU is investigating the police response rather than the attack itself.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said the attack was an example of why the government was working hard to bring in new laws “combating hate.”

“Last night, on the holiest ​night of the Jewish calendar, a shooting ​took place outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue ⁠in Belleville,” Carney posted Monday on X. “Jewish people must ​be able to worship safely. To live free, open, ​proud Jewish lives.”

Belleville Police Service Deputy Chief Sheri Meeks said at a news conference that authorities identified the alleged shooter as Sean Ward, a 29-year-old from Quinte West, a town roughly 11 miles from the synagogue. He had been in the hospital in a condition authorities described as “life threatening” before he died on Monday night. His post-mortem is scheduled for Wednesday, the SIU said Tuesday.

Ward joined the Canadian army in July 2017 and was discharged in June 2022 with the rank of corporal after serving in an infantry regiment, Canada’s Department of National Defense confirmed to CNN. It said he was not deployed during his service.

The police constable, named on Monday as Jeff Smith, is critically injured and faces “a significant road to recovery,” Meeks added.

The incident took place near the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, about 115 miles northeast of Toronto, at about 7 p.m. Sunday.

“I also want to acknowledge the significant impact this incident has had on Belleville’s Jewish community,” Meeks said. “We have increased patrols and are maintaining a heightened police presence throughout the city, including around places of worship, while continuing to work closely with community leaders to provide reassurance and support.”

Meeks added that police do not believe there is an “ongoing threat to public safety” in the aftermath of the shooting.

Officer saved lives

The president of the synagogue, Norm Weddum, told CNN earlier that the police officer saved the lives of everyone who had gathered inside. The building was riddled with bullets, he said. But no one inside the synagogue was injured.

Denette told reporters that the SIU is in the process of gathering bodycam footage from the incident. Preliminary findings indicate that the individual armed with a shotgun arrived at the scene in a truck on Sunday evening before discharging his firearm at an officer on duty, she said.

“That police officer returned fire, and then there was a second officer who arrived, and then also discharged their firearm,” Denette said.

When asked to comment on whether the shooting could be regarded as a terrorist attack, Denette said: “I want to be clear, the Special Investigations Unit has a limited mandate. Our mandate is to criminally investigate the actions of police officers, particularly in this case, an officer who discharged their firearm at a person.”

“There is a parallel criminal investigation going on with the Belleville Police,” Denette said. “So they’ll be looking at motives, that kind of thing, and any charges against the individual who did this.”

Synagogue president Weddum told CNN the police officer had been hired to protect the congregation that day. The officer was parked nearby in an unmarked vehicle and made contact with the shooter as he approached the building, he said.

Weddum described hearing a series of bangs as he ushered people into the sanctuary, after which he and others went toward the front door to investigate.

“That’s when we heard it again –– ‘bang, bang, bang,’ and they were very loud this time so we realized it was definitely shots being fired,” he said. “We all ran back, I closed the doors of the auditorium, and I yelled out, ‘Everybody get down!’”

Weddum said bullets sprayed through the stained glass windows and across the room as worshipers crouched on the floor in fear, some calling 911.

“We were on the floor for what felt like 10 minutes of gunfire, but in reality, it was a few minutes,” he said. “There were over 20 bullet holes in our windows.”

In a video geolocated by CNN that shows a neighborhood in Ontario close to the synagogue, police sirens and several loud gunshots can be heard.

A “severe” crisis

Carney warned in early June that the country was suffering a “specific, severe” crisis of antisemitism, pointing to other attacks on Jewish institutions in Canada.

“The horror and shame are global. Our actions must be local. They start with clearly admitting that Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians,” Carney told an audience at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto.

Later that month, shooting erupted in a neighborhood of Montreal known for its Jewish community, leaving a police officer and bystander dead in the aftermath. The deceased shooter’s writings were later found to be filled with antisemitic and misogynistic invective.

Carney’s government passed a new hate crimes bill in Parliament over the summer, the “Combatting Hate Act.” The law makes it a criminal offense to “intimidate and obstruct people” from accessing places of worship, community centers or other institutions associated with an identifiable group. The prime minister pointed to the legislation on Monday when addressing the shooting.

“This is why we have legislation … combating hate,” Carney said. “It’s why we’re reinforcing protections, why we’re working with community police.”

In Montreal on Monday, Jewish residents walking from Yom Kippur prayers told CNN that security remains tight at their synagogues in light of the other attacks.

“It’s obviously sickening that we are targeted for going to pray,” said Lilly Robins, a 73-year-old retired Montrealer. “Or targeted at all.”

Chad Lubelsky, executive director at Montreal’s Temple Emanu-El-Beth-Sholom, told CNN that he woke Monday morning to a text thread about the shooting in Belleville and its impact on his own synagogue’s safety measures. Police patrols drove by as he described how antisemitic threats have forced the congregation to tighten security.

“One of the most difficult things for us at Temple is that we’re constantly having to balance and navigate between security and inclusivity,” said Lubelsky. “This congregation is founded on open bridges, and building bridges to other cultures and other communities. Every day we’re called upon to ask ourselves, ‘Is this person allowed into the synagogue?’”

The temple’s president, Mélissa Shriqui, told CNN that the congregation has suffered disturbing security incidents, including an attempted firebombing in June. Shriqui said antisemitism has grown noticeably worse in Canada since she was a child.

“I’m 39 years old, and it would be a lie to say that things are the same,” Shriqui said. “The honest truth is that things are worse.”

At the start of Question Period in the House of Commons later Monday, Carney said he joins opposition leader Pierre Poilievre in “offering our thoughts and prayers for Officer Smith, for his family, for the Jewish community in Belleville, for the Jewish community across Canada.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement in response to news of the shooting: “We owe an immense debt of gratitude to this brave officer and to all the first responders who acted so quickly to keep the community safe.”

“My thoughts are with the Jewish community in Belleville and across Ontario, who have every right to gather and worship safely and without fear,” Ford added.

Poilievre, the leader of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party, said that “vile antisemitic violence in Canada must end, and this Liberal government must act now to protect our people.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Caitlin Danaher, Billy Stockwell, Niamh Kennedy, Farida Elsebai, Paula Newton and Hira Humayun contributed reporting.