TORONTO — Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd on Thursday played video of Sunday’s shooting outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue and said investigators now treat the attack as a premeditated, hate-motivated crime aimed at Jews on Yom Kippur. In the clip, posted to X by Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun, 29-year-old Sean Ward of Quinte West is heard saying, “You are going to die for the Jews,” as he fired on Const. Jeff Smith, who had been posted outside the building on Victoria Ave. at Bleecker Ave. at the congregation’s request.About 25 worshippers were inside starting Kol Nidre when the first shots rang out around 7 p.m. on Sunday. Ward arrived in a truck with a shotgun, opened fire on Smith, and a second officer also discharged a firearm; as many as 20 to 30 shots were fired, punching holes in stained glass and nearby homes and vehicles. Smith, a 13-year Belleville officer and emergency-response member, was struck more than once, and remains in hospital. Rodd said Thursday the constable is making “positive progress” but still faces a long recovery. Ward died in a Kingston hospital Monday night..Rodd said the evidence shows a “deliberate attack directed at members of the Jewish community during one of the holiest observances of the year,” and that Ward had other weapons and “the means to carry on a gun battle for a long time.” Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner had already called the incident antisemitic and a “massacre in the making.” Police have not confirmed any connection between the Belleville shooting and the Saturday arrest of Alexander Parfitt, 19, of Whitby, who is charged with threats motivated by hate after alleged online posts about shooting a Durham synagogue.
