Gunman Fires at Doors of Montreal Jewish Institutions Overnight

By Matis Glenn

The Montreal Jewish community was shocked Thursday morning when news broke of a gunman firing into the buildings of two Jewish institutions in the middle of the night.

At around 4:30 a.m., shots were fired at Yeshiva Gedolah of Montreal. The suspect is seen on surveillance footage wielding a handgun. The outside of the building has a protective, bullet proof film, but the gunman shot through the metal door, reaching around 40 feet inside the building and hitting a marble wall.  

The incident occurred while students were sleeping in the dormitory.

Not long after the first incident, shots were fired at Herzilia Talmud Torah Elementary school, about 10 minutes away from Yeshiva Gedolah by car.

B’chasdei Hashem, no injuries were reported from either incidents.

“There is no reason for panic,” Menahel of Yeshiva Gedolah Rabbi Menachem M. Karmel said in a letter to the school’s community. “We have alerted the police, Shomrim, the Federation and all other applicable parties, who are exercising their fullest power to deal with this situation. We are focusing all our efforts on ensuring that a plan is set into place for the continued safety and security of our talmidim and staff.”

The shootings follow an attempted arson on a Montreal shul and daycare center on Monday, where Molotov cocktails were thrown at the buildings, causing minor damage but no injuries, baruch Hashem. Congregation Beth Tikvah Ahavat Shalom Nusach Hoari and the nearby Federation CJA buildings were targeted.

The fire department arrived to extinguish one fire that was still smoldering; the other apparently went out on its own.

Police are investigating the incidents.