Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed, 23, was sentenced to 66 months in prison on Monday for firing shots at Yeshiva Gedola Merkaz Hatorah, a Jewish school in Montreal, in November 2023.
Ahmed pleaded guilty in September to discharging a firearm while acting recklessly as to the consequences of his actions. He has been in custody since his May 2024 arrest.
The shooting occurred shortly before 5 a.m. on Nov. 12, 2023. The school was unoccupied, and no one was injured. Police found three bullet holes in the building’s entrance and four 9 mm shell casings outside.
Investigators linked Ahmed to the attack through DNA evidence recovered from items in a stolen vehicle used in the shooting, as well as cellphone location data placing him near the school and the vehicle’s subsequent abandonment site.
The prosecution and defense jointly recommended the five-and-a-half-year sentence.
The shooting came three days after Yeshiva Gedola and another Jewish school, Azrieli Talmud Torah, were also targeted by gunfire. Prosecutors said there was no evidence connecting Ahmed to those earlier shootings or other attacks on Jewish institutions.
Richard Robertson, director of research and advocacy for B’nai Brith Canada, told JNS that another young person, a minor only known as “J.B.,” who shot at the Beth Avraham Yoseph congregation in Toronto, is set to be sentenced on Tuesday.
“We’ve seen a growing problem with youth violence in Canada,” Robertson said. “We’ve seen youth acting as guns for hire who have been charged in relation to attacks against the Jewish community.”
Robertson added that “it should concern all Canadians, not just the Jewish community, that there are youth who have been so indoctrinated.”
“The knowledge that there are youth who are willing to perpetrate these attacks only adds to the fear of Jewish Canadians who have been grappling with a national crisis of antisemitism for the last several years,” he told JNS.
Robertson said the sentence was an important step toward holding those responsible for attacks on Jewish institutions accountable.
“The sentence handed down today reflects the diligent investigation and the commitment of the Crown and the court to holding Ahmed accountable for his actions,” he said. “This sentence sends a strong message that there will be zero tolerance for those who choose to target vulnerable communities in Canada.”
