When a gunman approached a police cruiser outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, during Yom Kippur, approximately two dozen people were praying inside.The armed officer sitting outside was not part of a permanent security system available to every synagogue in Canada.Police had dispatched him after receiving a report about a suspicious vehicle.
That decision may have prevented a massacre. "The only thing that stood in the way of every congregant of that shul being murdered was the presence of an armed police officer," Simon Wolle, CEO of B’nai Brith Canada, told Fox News Digital.ISRAELI MEDICS TRAIN US SYNAGOGUES HOW TO RESPOND TO ATTACKS, AS HIGH HOLIDAYS APPROACHA forensics officer points towards a police vehicle (out of frame) at the scene of a shooting the Sons of Jacob Synagogue where a man armed with a shotgun exchanged gun fire with a police officer stationed outside of the Synagogue late Sunday evening as people were arriving for Yom Kippur.The suspects shotgun can be seen lying on the ground adjacent the officer.
PD Nick Lachance/Toronto Star Nick Lachance/Toronto Star (Nick Lachance/Toronto Star via Getty Images)Police said last week's shooting was a deliberate, hate-motivated attack targeting the Jewish community.According to authorities, 29-year-old Sean Ward approached Belleville Police Constable Jeff Smith and allegedly shouted, "You are going to die for the Jews," before firing a shotgun at him.Smith was struck multiple times while still inside his vehicle.
Despite his injuries, he emerged from the cruiser and returned fire.A second officer arrived within minutes and joined the confrontation.
Ward later died at a hospital.Smith remains hospitalized after suffering multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body and serious head trauma.Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd said Smith faces multiple surgeries and a "lengthy and challenging" recovery, but said the officer is "making progress every day."Smith’s wife, Ashley, has ...