Ex-Canadian soldier opens fire at synagogue on Yom Kippur, wounds cop in possible antisemitic attack: officials

An ex-Canadian soldier opened fire outside a synagogue during Yom Kippur services and struck a cop before being gunned down by police in a possible antisemitic attack, officials said.Shotgun-toting Sean Ward, 29, pulled up in his truck and ripped off shots at two cops stationed outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, around 7 p.m.Sunday, according to the CBC.Ward struck Constable Jeff Smith, who was working security outside the synagogue along with another cop.

The two officers returned fire and hit Ward, who died of his injuries Monday night.Smith remained in critical but stable condition as of Tuesday.It was not immediately clear if Ward was targeting the synagogue — located about 110 miles east of Toronto — or law enforcement. Investigators, however, noted that the timing of the shooting on Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, suggests the attack may have been motivated by antisemitism.None of the roughly two dozen congregants inside were injured, but bullets peppered surrounding homes, vehicles and the synagogue’s windows.“There are dozens of bullet holes in the street behind me and some homes have been hit and there are some vehicles with shot out windows, that sort of thing.

So it would have been quite the scene,” Belleville Deputy Police Chief Sheri Meeks said.Worshipers said they immediately realized gunfire was erupting outside and ducked for cover during the intense exchange of about 25 shots, which lasted mere moments.“I could say, ‘Oh, this is definitely … someone is shooting here,'” Norm Weddum, the leader of Sons of Jacob, who was in attendance for the service, told CBC.“So that’s when we ran back into the auditorium of the synagogue, closed the doors behind us so as to not leave a visible target and we hit the floor.“Literally everyone went down.

I yelled for everyone to get on to the floor and the shots continued for a few more seconds, and then it was basically over.”Sons of Jacob always requests...