A teenager who opened fire on two Toronto-area synagogues in March was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in a custodial facility followed by one year of community supervision, the maximum penalty available for the offenses under Canada’s Youth Criminal Justice Act, Jewish organizations said.
The offender, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, pleaded guilty to firearms-related charges, according to a statement from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, which identified him as “J.B.” His identity is protected under Canadian law.
The shootings occurred within hours of each other. Shortly before midnight on March 6, gunfire struck Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto, a Modern Orthodox synagogue known as BAYT in Vaughan, Ont. Shortly after midnight on March 7, shots were fired at Shaarei Shomayim, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Toronto.
Multiple rounds struck both buildings, damaging their entrances. Two people were inside BAYT at the time, while Shaarei Shomayim was empty. No one was injured, according to police.
“Both synagogues sustained extensive damage, and the incidents caused widespread fear and distress throughout Canada’s Jewish community,” the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center stated.
Justice Michael Alexander Townsend of the Ontario Court of Justice described the shootings as “planned, calculated and brazen” during sentencing, according to the organization. He also said it was only through “good luck and good fortune” that no one was hurt.
Court records showed that the teenager was paid to carry out the attacks, the center said. However, those who financed or directed the shootings, as well as their motives for targeting the synagogues, remain unidentified.
“The sentencing therefore leaves unresolved the possibility that others involved in orchestrating the violence may pose an ongoing threat to Jewish institutions,” the center stated.
Police charged an 18-year-old in connection with the shootings on May 6. A second teenager, 17, from Waterloo, Ont., was arrested on May 27 and charged in connection with both attacks. A third suspect, a 23-year-old man from Barrie, Ont., was arrested in August. Police said at the time that no suspects remained outstanding in the synagogue-shooting investigation, although it was continuing.
In June, Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw linked the synagogue shootings and other attacks, including one at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, to criminal-for-hire networks that recruit young people to carry out violence for payment. He said recruits were contacted through encrypted messaging apps and required to film their attacks to receive payment.
UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, the advocacy arm of the Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA, welcomed Tuesday’s sentence but said those who organized and financed the shootings must also be held accountable.
“These were not just buildings that came under fire. They were places where families gather, children learn and generations of Jewish Canadians have come together to practice their faith,” the groups said.
They added that the “shootings did not happen in isolation.”
The groups said the shootings followed nearly three years of “escalating antisemitism, intimidation, harassment and violence” targeting Jewish Canadians, including protests in Jewish neighborhoods and attacks on synagogues, schools and community centers.
“What began as intimidation has, in the most disturbing cases, escalated to gunfire directed at places of worship and schools,” they said. “Today’s sentence sends an important message that this violence carries serious consequences. But it cannot be where accountability ends.”
B’nai Brith Canada stated that “this case underscores the severe threats facing Jewish Canadians.” The organization called on governments to ensure Jewish institutions have access to armed protection, either through police or private security.
“Our government must take a firm and proactive posture against extremism,” it stated. “Although the sentence handed down today conveys a strong message, it is imperative that those orchestrating these attacks on Jewish institutions be identified and held accountable.”
