Gunfire Outside a Belleville Synagogue on Yom Kippur Wounds an Officer and a Man as Worshippers Take Cover Inside

Folks, on the holiest night of the Jewish year, someone opened fire outside a synagogue in Belleville, Ontario — and the police officer standing guard walked straight into it.

Gunfire Outside a Belleville Synagogue on Yom Kippur Wounds an Officer and a Man as Worshippers Take Cover Inside

Belleville, Ontario — More than 20 worshippers were gathered inside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue observing Yom Kippur on Sunday evening when gunfire erupted outside the building, sending bullets through the sanctuary's stained glass windows and leaving a Belleville police officer and the man he confronted wounded in hospital.

Ontario's police watchdog has taken control of the investigation. Provincial and municipal leaders reacted within hours. And by Monday morning, police had still not said whether the synagogue itself was the target.

What Police Say Happened

The Belleville Police Service said one of its officers "encountered an individual in the area at about 7:10 p.m." near Bleecker Avenue and Victoria Avenue, the intersection where the synagogue sits in the city's East Hill neighbourhood.

"The officer and the individual sustained injuries and were transported to the hospital," the service said in a statement, without elaborating on how the encounter unfolded.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit, the civilian agency that investigates serious incidents involving police, said there was an exchange of gunfire between the officer and an unidentified man. The unit sent investigators to the scene and has assumed responsibility for communication about the case.

The Belleville Intelligencer reported that both men were rushed to Kingston General Hospital. The man was hospitalised in life-threatening condition, according to The Associated Press, and the Special Investigations Unit confirmed he remained in critical condition. The Toronto Sun reported, citing sources, that the officer "is alive and should recover" — a detail police have not formally confirmed. One member of the congregation put the officer's condition at "stable" but said the community could not be sure.

Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd confirmed the injured officer "was providing a proactive presence in an area of the synagogue [and] encountered a male armed as a result of the encounter."

Inside the Sanctuary When the Shooting Started

No one inside the building was hurt. That is the single most important fact of the night, and it sits on a knife's edge of circumstance.

All Yom Kippur services were cancelled, the congregation said in a Facebook post. Congregants were kept inside until the scene was declared safe, then loaded onto a Belleville Transit bus dispatched to the synagogue around 8:30 p.m. and taken to police headquarters.

A security guard who identified himself only as Mike told the Belleville Intelligencer he heard congregants crying out during the gunfire. He described hearing a first shot that sounded like it came from a "heavy rifle," followed by a second round of smaller-arms fire meeting another succession of bullets.

"Pop, pop, pop, pop, like this big pop," he said. He added that he believed the officer stationed outside "is the one that intercepted a guy that shot up the synagogue."

What the Neighbours Heard

The gunfire did not sound like a single weapon, and it did not stop quickly.

A neighbour who gave her name as Jose told the Belleville Intelligencer she was in her living room when it began. "We heard a loud bang, and we were kind of like: 'That was a weird noise,'" she said. "Just one at first and then, five, 10 seconds later, it literally was like, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, and I'd say at least 20 shots."

She described a mix of two different types of weapons and no automatic fire. When she stepped onto her porch, she saw a truck drive off the road and onto the sidewalk, and recorded video of a late-model Chevrolet Silverado King Cab before more shots sent her back inside to call 911. She estimated she heard 25 to 30 rounds in total.

Another resident, Sheldon, told the newspaper he heard nine shots, then another 16. One neighbour said the volley was loud enough to be heard from the parking lot at Meyers Pier. Shots carried on "for at least two to three minutes," one member of the congregation told the Toronto Sun.

The police response was heavy and cautious: the city's tactical unit, an armoured vehicle, and aerial drones scanning backyards. An ambulance left the scene around 7:20 p.m. Initial reports suggested there may have been two shooters; police now believe there was one.

"We All Just Took Cover"

Congregants described a room that went from prayer to cover in seconds.

"We all just took cover," one unidentified congregant told Toronto Sun columnist Warren Kinsella. "The shooter never breached the building, as far as we know. But lots of shots were fired."

Another member put it just as plainly: "We had an officer there before we started and they started shooting at him. They never breached the building, but shots came through." Then: "Thanks to the police officer who got injured. We pray for his speedy recovery."

Photos posted online by Ryan Williams, a former member of Parliament for the area who lives nearby with his family, appeared to show the synagogue's stained glass windows punctured with more than a dozen bullet holes. Neighbours were told by police to shelter in place.

"I'm shaken by what happened tonight," Williams said. "This is not something we are used to seeing in our city, the Friendly City."

Ford: "I'm Disgusted"

Ontario Premier Doug Ford responded on X within hours.

"I'm disgusted by the shooting that took place outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville earlier this evening as Jewish community members gathered to mark Yom Kippur," Ford wrote. "My thoughts are with the Jewish community in Belleville and across Ontario, who have every right to gather and worship safely and without fear."

Ford said he expects "all those responsible are arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," and that the province owes "an immense debt of gratitude to this brave officer."

Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis called it "a tragic day to even hear this news." "We've never heard of such a thing before in Belleville," he told the Intelligencer. "It's devastating." In a statement released by the city, Ellis said Belleville has "zero tolerance for acts of violence motivated by hate," and that everyone has the right to feel safe "including when gathering and practising their faith." He said the Prime Minister's Office was notified about the shooting.

John Fraser, a Liberal member of provincial parliament in Ottawa, went further, calling it "a horrific act of antisemitic violence." "Families were gathered in community and prayer when shots came pouring through the stained glass window of their local synagogue," Fraser said. "For years we have seen a growing number of Jewish centres targeted by gunfire. It was only a matter of time before someone was brazen enough to do something like this."

Police Have Not Said the Synagogue Was the Target

This is where the story gets careful, and where it should stay careful.

Detectives have said it is unclear whether the synagogue was being targeted. Police have not described a motive, have not named the man who was shot, and have not said why the officer was posted at that corner. The Special Investigations Unit, which by law takes over when police gunfire injures someone, has released no further detail.

What is established is narrower and more troubling than speculation: a man with a weapon turned up outside a synagogue on Yom Kippur, at an hour when at least two dozen people were inside praying, and the officer assigned to that corner stopped him.

Until investigators say otherwise, the motive remains unknown. That is not a hedge. It is the state of the evidence.

A Shul That Has Anchored the Quinte Region for a Century

The Sons of Jacob Congregation is Belleville's only synagogue, and it is older than most of the buildings around it.

Its history begins in 1905, when a small group of Jewish families held their first service in a boarding house. The congregation built its current home at 211 Victoria Avenue, dedicated on June 10, 1956. In 1969 it commissioned twelve stained glass windows representing the twelve tribes of Israel; they were completed in 1973. Those are the windows damaged on Sunday night.

The shul serves Belleville, Trenton, Prince Edward County and the wider Quinte region, and describes itself as a Conservative congregation that welcomes everyone from Reform to Orthodox, interfaith families, and anyone seeking Jewish community. "Though our numbers are small," its history reads, "our commitment remains strong."

The Record Behind the Alerts

Sunday's shooting did not land in a vacuum, and the Jewish community was not caught unprepared.

Police forces across Ontario had announced security plans for the Jewish high holidays amid a wave of antisemitism. Toronto Police said it was increasing visibility and patrols at synagogues and other places of worship "out of an abundance of caution." York Regional Police said residents should expect increased patrols and that officers "will continue to be visible in the areas where people gather to worship."

The numbers behind those deployments are stark. B'nai Brith Canada recorded more than 6,800 antisemitic incidents in 2025 — the highest total since it began tracking in 1982. In March, shots damaged the entrances of synagogues in Vaughan and Toronto. No one was injured; police later arrested three suspects.

Prime Minister Mark Carney addressed the pattern directly in a June 1 speech at Toronto's Holy Blossom Temple. "Canada's civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians," he said, citing bullets fired at Jewish schools, firebombs thrown at synagogues, and attacks on Jewish-owned businesses. He said antisemitism had "surged to levels not seen in the post-war period," and that more than two-thirds of the country's religion-motivated hate crimes last year targeted Jewish Canadians, who make up about one per cent of the population. His government launched a Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality and Inclusion, which Carney directed to make antisemitism its first responsibility.

What Comes Next

The Special Investigations Unit's findings will determine what is publicly known about how the confrontation unfolded and whether the officer's use of force was justified. Because the SIU is a civilian oversight body, that process is independent of the Belleville police service — and it is deliberately slow, because the consequences are serious either way.

The congregation, meanwhile, has cancelled its Yom Kippur services and is left to decide what gathering safely looks like in a building whose windows now carry bullet holes.

What is already certain is the shape of the night: an officer on a proactive post, a man with a weapon, two dozen people praying behind glass, and a city that has never had to absorb anything like this before.

The Bottom Line

Belleville's police chief called his officers' performance magnificent. The premier called the shooting disgusting. The mayor called it devastating. A worshipper behind a bullet-punched window called it what it was: people who came to atone, and got shot at instead.

Police have not said this was a hate crime. They have not said the synagogue was the target. Hold both of those facts — and hold them alongside the other one: that on Yom Kippur, in a country whose own prime minister has said it is failing its Jewish community, a man opened fire outside a shul full of people, and one officer's decision to stand at that corner may be the reason this is a story about injuries instead of funerals.

Canada's Jewish communities are asking a question this morning that no security plan has answered: if an officer had not already been posted outside that door, what would Belleville be waking up to?

By Jessica Ali, Staff Writer

This article was produced with AI-assisted research and editorial support. Sources: The Associated Press, CNN, The Canadian Press, CityNews Toronto, the Belleville Intelligencer, the Napanee Guide, the National Post, the Toronto Sun, UPI, The Hindu and CHCH News.