Policeman Stops Gunman Who Attacked Synagogue on Yom Kippur

A police officer is in critical condition Monday after stopping a shooter who opened fire on an Ontario synagogue at the start of Yom Kippur services.The president of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue, Norm Weddum, told The New York Sun how more than 20 shots shattered stained glass windows as worshippers sheltered inside the small synagogue at Belleville.Mr. Weddum said the incident began at the start of the service on Sunday evening to mark the beginning of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.“ I yelled for everyone to get on the floor,” Mr. Weddum told the Sun after he heard a commotion outside. No sooner had he ordered everyone to get down, he said, than bullets started coming through the windows. Those sheltering on the floor included elderly people, adults, and teenagers. “At that point we were all on the ground,” he said. “But if they’d been standing, they would’ve been hit.” By the time the bullets stopped, the officer and the shooter had both been shot, according to preliminary information reported by the Ontario Special Investigations Unit. Canadian law enforcement has identified the shooter only as a 29-year-old man. He has been hospitalized in a “life-threatening condition.” The officer is currently listed in a critical-stable condition. Mr. Weddum explained how he had stopped to introduce himself to the officer, who was seated in an unmarked vehicle, on his way into the synagogue around 6:45 pm.“For us, he’s a hero,” Mr. Weddum said. ”If he hadn’t been there, who knows? The outcome would have been a lot different, and I probably wouldn’t be talking to you right now.”Mr. Weddum added that antisemitism “is getting worse and worse in Canada.” Prime Minister Mark Carney denounced the attack in a post Monday, affirming: “Jewish people must be able to worship safely. To live free, open, proud Jewish lives.” Mr. Carney opened a new session of Parliament at Ottawa on Monday before traveling to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly. He committed his government “will do everything in our power to support law enforcement in ensuring that the perpetrator is held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”The assault outside a small synagogue is the latest in a surge of antisemitic attacks across Canada that has been escalating since Israel declared war on Hamas following the October 7 terror attacks. B’nai Brith Canada reported 27 violent attacks in the first half of 2026, more than doubling the 10 recorded in all of 2025. Prior to 2023, the last recorded antisemitic violence occurred in 2017, according to the Anti-Defamation League.Belleville is located about 115 miles from Toronto, with a population around 60,000. The town calls itself “The Friendly City.”

Policeman Stops Gunman Who Attacked Synagogue on Yom Kippur

Policeman Stops Gunman Who Attacked Synagogue on Yom Kippur

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