A Belleville, Ontario police officer was shot and seriously wounded on Sunday evening after exchanging gunfire with an armed man outside a synagogue where roughly 25 congregants were observing Yom Kippur, Canadian officials said.
The shooting happened around 7 p.m. near the Sons of Jacob Synagogue at Victoria and Bleecker avenues in Belleville, a city about 110 miles east of Toronto. According to PBS NewsHour, the suspect has been identified as Sean Ward, 29, of nearby Quinte West, who was armed with a shotgun when he approached the building where a Belleville police officer was stationed in an unmarked vehicle as a precaution.
An exchange of fire outside the synagogue
Up to 30 rounds were fired in the exchange, PBS NewsHour reported, citing witnesses. Const. Jeff Smith, a 13-year veteran of the Belleville Police Service, was struck and is in critical but stabilizing condition in intensive care. Ward also suffered gunshot wounds and remained in life-threatening condition as of Monday.
No one inside the synagogue was hurt, but the building did not escape damage. Synagogue president Norm Weddum said a stained glass window took roughly 20 bullet holes during the shootout, according to CTV News affiliate CP24.
Investigators have not publicly confirmed a motive, and Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis said it was too early to formally classify the attack as a hate crime, even though the circumstances “point towards” one. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, the province’s independent police watchdog, is reviewing the officer’s use of force, a standard step whenever someone is seriously injured in an encounter with police. Belleville police are separately investigating the suspect’s actions and motive.
Condemnation from Ottawa and Queen’s Park
Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the attack, saying “Jewish people must be able to worship safely” and that they must be free “to live free, open, proud Jewish lives.” His office said the federal government would support efforts to hold those responsible to account.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford called Const. Smith a “hero” who “stopped a tragedy in its footsteps” and described the shooting as “disgusting.” Belleville’s deputy police chief said “antisemitism, hate and violence have no place in our community,” while Mayor Ellis said the city has “zero tolerance for acts of violence motivated by hate.”
Toronto police, more than 100 miles away, announced increased patrols at places of worship as a precaution following the shooting, even though officials said they had identified no specific threats to the city.
Part of a wider pattern of threats to worshippers
The shooting follows months of warnings from Jewish organizations about rising antisemitic incidents across Canada, including previous attacks on synagogues and a Jewish school in Toronto over the past two years. Security experts have repeatedly flagged Yom Kippur and other high-attendance holidays as periods of heightened risk for synagogues, since services draw larger crowds than usual services throughout the year.
Attacks on people at prayer are not unique to Canada or to any one faith. Mosques in Pakistan and elsewhere have faced similar violence during Friday prayers and other large gatherings, and the recurring pattern has pushed governments in multiple countries to expand police presence around religious sites during major holidays. The Belleville shooting is likely to intensify that debate in Canada, where officials are now balancing visible security at synagogues, churches and mosques against community concerns about houses of worship feeling like guarded compounds.
Canadian police have not said when the investigation into Sunday’s shooting is expected to conclude.
Featured image: exterior of a synagogue (file photo, not the Belleville synagogue). Photo by Jayashankar Shankar / Pexels.
