Toronto Jewish Community Demands Justice After Gunmen Target Girls’ School

A Toronto Jewish community is coming to terms with a horrific act and calling for action after two gunmen fired at the girls’ school building early Saturday morning.

According to the Toronto Police Service, the suspects opened fire on the Jewish girls’ school around 4:52 a.m. before fleeing the scene in a dark-colored vehicle. The shooting was captured on security cameras, and evidence of gunfire was recovered at the scene.

While police officials have been cautious about labeling the attack a hate crime, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) asserted that the shooting was “a clear, calculated, and premeditated targeting of a Jewish school for girls.” They demanded justice and swift action, emphasizing that the targeting of a school, regardless of whether children were present, represents a worrying escalation in the violence experienced by Jewish Canadians.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attack as a “brazen act of antisemitism” and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Ontario Premier Doug Ford echoed this sentiment, describing the shooting as a “gross display of antisemitism” and stating that every student deserves to feel safe at school.