A second suspect was arrested in connection to a 2023 shooting of the Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal, according to the Montreal City Police Service.
The 19-year-old was set to appear before the Montreal Courthouse on Wednesday for his involvement in the November attack on the Canadian Jewish school.
A man had been seen discharging a firearm at the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce institution early in the morning, damaging the building facade. After firing, the suspect fled in a getaway vehicle.
Twenty-year-old Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed was arrested in May for his role in the incident and charged with discharging a firearm, theft, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
The Federation Combined Jewish Appeal and the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs praised the police for Wednesday’s arrest but noted it was now the responsibility of prosecutors and the courts to establish deterrence with a strong sentence. The Jewish groups explained that the attack was part of a campaign of violence against Jewish residents.
“More must be done to send a strong message that those who have sought to terrorize Montreal’s Jewish community since Hamas’s October 7 attack will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” the CJA and CIJA said.
'Those behind this cowardly act must be held responsible'
B’nai Brith Canada Quebec director Henry Topas also welcomed the arrests on social media and echoed the sentiments regarding the need for a “strong message” to potential perpetrators.
“Those behind this cowardly act of intimidation against the Jewish community must be held responsible for their antisemitic act,” Topas said on X/Twitter.
The Yeshiva Gedola of Montreal was the target of two shootings in November 2023, the first on November 9 and the second on November 12.