Montreal politicians have condemned what seems to be the latest violent event in the city in connection with the war between Israel and Hamas.
Mayor Valérie Plante said Sunday police are investigating after a Jewish school was hit by gunshots, one of two schools that were also targetted in overnight shootings just three days earlier.
The early-morning incident at the Yeshiva Gedola school appears to be the latest in a string of hateful acts in the city, with Montreal police investigating two firebombings earlier this week that caused minor damage to a synagogue and an office belonging to Jewish advocacy group Federation CJA.
Plante called the latest act "odious" and said she stands by Montreal's Jewish community, which she said is under attack.
"Nobody will say that it’s OK to shoot an elementary school to pass a message," she told reporters outside the school Sunday morning.
"This is not the city that we believe in, with the values that we believe in and respect.”
Quebec Premier François Legault issued a warning alongside expressions of solidarity.
"Every effort will be made to find and punish the culprits," he said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Let us not import the hatred and violence that we see elsewhere in the world."
MP Marc Miller, who represents a downtown Montreal riding, deemed the shooting "cowardly." Fellow city Liberal lawmaker Anthony Housefather said antisemitic acts "cannot be allowed to become the new normal."
Emergency services received several calls at around 5 a.m. after gunshots were heard in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, police said.
Montreal police spokeswoman Véronique Dubuc confirmed bullet casings were found on the ground, but said there were no injuries.
“According to initial information collected from witnesses, when the shots were heard a vehicle was observed quickly leaving the scene,” she said.
Michael Mostyn, who heads advocacy group B'nai Brith Canada, called the incident "mind-boggling" and an example of rising antisemitism across the country.
"How in the world can this be going on in a civilized country?" he asked in a release.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2023.
Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press
