The Toronto Police Service charged an 18-year-old man, of no fixed address, in connection with shootings in March targeting synagogues in Toronto and Vaughan, in Ontario, the department said on Wednesday.
The department’s counter terror unit was part of the probe, which included the York Regional Police, the department said.
The teen was charged with two counts each of firing a gun and of mischief to property worth more than $5,000 and one count each of unauthorized possession of a gun, having a weapon in a motor vehicle, possessing a prohibited device, careless storage of a prohibited device and having such a device in a vehicle.
The suspect, who was 17 at the time of the offense, is due in court on May 20.
The department said that the teen is suspected of shooting a gun outside synagogues just before midnight on March 6 and just after midnight on March 7. Doors to the synagogues were damaged. People inside the first synagogue weren’t hurt.
“These incidents were a terrible act of violence against the Jewish community in our cities,” stated Myron Demkiw, chief of the Toronto Police Service.
“This is a clear message: targeted hate will be pursued, prosecuted and stopped,” stated James Pasternak, a member of the Toronto City Council.
