FALCON POWERS – A girls’ Jewish school in Toronto, Canada was subjected to gunfire in the early hours of Saturday morning, with no casualties reported, according to the police, in an incident linked to tensions related to the conflict in the Middle East.
Shortly before 5 a.m., gunshots were fired at the “Chai Mitzvah” elementary school for girls in the North York neighborhood of the city.
Police Inspector Paul Krawczyk said during a press conference that the suspects had exited a dark-colored vehicle and “opened fire on the school, causing damage to the building’s façade.”
Police will increase their presence in the neighborhood and around other Jewish schools and places of worship.
Krawczyk added, “We won’t ignore the evidence and what happened here and what the target of the shooting was. But at the same time, it would be wrong to simply speculate at this stage.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the reports of a shooting at a Jewish elementary school in North York as “abhorrent” and called for the perpetrators of this “vile and anti-Semitic act” to be brought to justice.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford condemned what he called a “blatant manifestation of anti-Semitism” on his X platform.
The Jewish organization “Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center” said it was “horrified” by the shooting.
The organization’s CEO, Michael Levitt, said “this shocking escalation of violence targeted at innocent Jewish children must serve as a wake-up call for political leaders in our city and across our country.”
In November, a Jewish religious school in Montreal, Quebec was targeted by gunfire twice in the same week, with no injuries.
