The suspect in a shooting outside the Sons of Jacob synagogue in Belleville, Ontario, as worshippers gathered for Yom Kippur has died of his injuries, Canadian authorities said, as investigators continued to examine whether the attack specifically targeted the synagogue or the Jewish community.
Sean Ward, 29, was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with police Sunday evening while about 25 people were gathering inside the synagogue for Kol Nidre services. Const. Jeff Smith, the first officer at the scene, was seriously wounded and remained hospitalized in stable condition. Ward died in hospital Monday night.
Investigators have not formally determined Ward’s motive or concluded that the synagogue itself was his intended target. Kristy Denette, a spokeswoman for Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, said it would be speculation to make such a determination at this stage, though when asked whether the incident could have been a terrorist attack against the Jewish community, she said “common sense would say that probably is the case.” Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner described the incident as antisemitic and said police had prevented a “massacre in the making.”
The shooting began shortly after 7 p.m. local time. According to preliminary findings, Ward arrived in a truck and opened fire on Smith, who was stationed in an unmarked police vehicle outside the synagogue. Smith returned fire, and a second officer who arrived at the scene also fired his weapon. Investigators estimate that between 20 and 30 shots were fired.
Bullets struck the synagogue’s stained-glass windows as well as nearby vehicles and homes, but none of the worshippers inside were physically injured.
Norman Weddum, president of the synagogue, said he heard gunfire as congregants were still entering the building. He shouted that there was a shooter and told everyone to get down on the floor. Bullets passed through a street-facing window and struck the opposite wall.
Douglas Lobel, who was inside, said the exchange of fire seemed to last “like forever.” When a police officer eventually entered and asked whether anyone had been injured, the congregation realized everyone inside had escaped unharmed.
“The officer outside saved our lives,” Lobel said.
Former soldier reportedly spread antisemitic conspiracy theories
Ward lived in Quinte West, near Belleville. Canada’s Department of National Defence confirmed that he joined the Canadian Armed Forces in July 2017, served as an infantry soldier and left the military in June 2022 with the rank of corporal. He was never deployed overseas.
Sons of Jacob synagogue
Military sources told Global News that while serving, Ward had voiced conspiracy theories about COVID-19, including antisemitic claims blaming Jews for the pandemic. The Canadian Armed Forces did not confirm those allegations and cited privacy rules when asked about the circumstances of his departure.
Investigators have stressed that they have not yet established whether those views were connected to Sunday’s shooting.
A day after the attack, about 150 people gathered in Belleville for a rally in support of the Jewish community. Weddum said the synagogue intended to resume services after investigators completed their work at the building and that the congregation planned to repair the damage and strengthen security, including additional cameras and protective window coverings.
‘For the sin of genocide, we atone’
While the Belleville community was dealing with the aftermath of the shooting, hundreds of Jews gathered at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn on Yom Kippur for a separate Yizkor event mourning Palestinians killed in Gaza and calling for an end to U.S. military support for Israel.
The gathering was organized by left-wing Jewish groups including Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and Rabbis for Ceasefire, with participation from anti-Zionist organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow. A sign on the speakers’ podium read: “For the sin of genocide, we atone.”
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a Yom Kippur memorial in New York for Palestinians killed in Gaza
Among the speakers was pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, who became a prominent figure in protests at Columbia University.
“It’s tough to repent at a time where our tuition fees, our tax dollars, our votes are being used to kill, to maim, to displace Palestinians,” Khalil told the crowd. He also condemned what he called the “Zionist project” and ended by declaring: “May God remember that Israel is committing genocide.”
Khalil, a U.S. green-card holder married to an American citizen, was detained by immigration authorities in March 2025 over his role in the Columbia protests and held in Louisiana for 104 days before being released. He has not been charged with a crime but continues to face deportation proceedings.
Former New York City comptroller Brad Lander, a Democrat running for Congress, also spoke. Lander, who is Jewish and has described himself as a liberal Zionist, said his Yom Kippur confession had to include what he viewed as Jewish complicity in Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
The Yom Kippur memorial in New York for Palestinians killed in Gaza
“My confession must center on my, on our, complicity in what I view as genocide in Gaza,” he said, also referring to destruction and hunger in Gaza and violence in the West Bank. “We have been culpable.”
Participants read the names of Palestinians killed in Gaza, prayed and tore white cloth in a gesture inspired by the Jewish mourning practice of keriah. Some wore white, while others carried keffiyehs. At the end of the ceremony, participants placed memorial cards bearing names of the dead near the plaza’s fountain.
The Brooklyn event was held for the third consecutive year, turning one of Judaism’s most solemn days into a public protest over Israel’s conduct in Gaza and U.S. support for it.
In Belleville, meanwhile, the focus remained on how close Sunday night’s shooting may have come to causing mass casualties.
The motive remains under investigation, but for the worshippers who were inside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue, the conclusion was simpler: an armed police officer stationed outside the building stood between the congregation and the gunfire.