BELLEVILLE, Ontario — A police officer and a man were wounded in an exchange of gunfire outside Belleville’s Sons of Jacob Synagogue Sunday evening as worshippers gathered for Yom Kippur, with the congregation’s president reporting that bullets struck the building’s stained-glass windows.
The man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit dispatched investigators, while police had not publicly established whether the synagogue or Jewish community was targeted.
Synagogue president Norman Weddum told Quinte News that congregants took cover and closed the auditorium doors as shots continued. He reported about 20 bullet holes in the windows and described the shooting as a deliberate attack on Jewish worshippers.
Former Belleville Conservative MP Ryan Williams published a photograph he said a worshipper had sent him, showing apparent bullet damage to stained glass.
“The Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville was shot at tonight while worshippers gathered for Yom Kippur,” he wrote. “An officer was on duty and is being called a hero.”
The photograph shows roughly a dozen apparent impact marks across a stained-glass window depicting a sailing ship. Pale marks punctuate the sails and surrounding coloured panes, with cracks radiating from several points.
The shooting raises a question reaching beyond Belleville, a city on the Bay of Quinte along Lake Ontario’s northern shore, roughly 175 kilometres east of Toronto: is this a continuation of the violence seen at Toronto-area synagogues and the U.S. consulate, where investigators have uncovered alleged networks recruiting people to carry out attacks for money?
Authorities have disclosed no connection. But those investigations form part of the backdrop to a shooting that sent worshippers to the floor on Judaism’s holiest day.
Weddum said the congregation had hired the officer for security. He spoke to the officer before entering the building, then heard repeated gunfire as people were being ushered into the sanctuary.
“It was boom, boom, boom,” Weddum told CBC News Network on Monday.
He went to the lobby, recognized the sound of gunfire and retreated with the others.
“Literally everyone went down,” he said. “I yelled for everyone to get on to the floor, and the shots continued for a few more seconds, and then it was basically over.”
The officer had been stationed outside in an unmarked car, Weddum said. Belleville police placed the encounter near Bleecker Avenue and Victoria Avenue at about 7:10 p.m. Both injured people were taken to hospital.
Police said there was no continuing threat to public safety and withheld further details while the SIU investigated.
Premier Doug Ford condemned the shooting, thanked the wounded officer and other first responders, and said Jewish Ontarians had the right to worship safely.
Toronto and York Region police announced increased patrols at synagogues and other places of worship. The broader concern rests on a series of attacks and subsequent investigations stretching back to March.
On March 2, gunfire struck Temple Emanu-El in Toronto after a Purim event. The rabbi was still inside, according to reporting at the time.
On March 6, shots struck Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto in Thornhill. Shortly after midnight on March 7, police responded to gunfire outside Shaarei Shomayim in Toronto. An 18-year-old was subsequently charged in connection with those two shootings.
On March 10, the U.S. consulate in Toronto was attacked.
In May, U.S. prosecutors charged Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a 32-year-old Iraqi they described as a senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, an Iranian-backed terrorist organization, with six terrorism-related offences.
The Justice Department alleged that Al-Saadi and associates planned, coordinated and claimed responsibility for at least 18 attacks in Europe and two in Canada. Prosecutors also alleged he tried to arrange attacks on Jewish institutions in the United States, including a New York synagogue, discussing explosives or arson with an undercover officer.
On June 11, Toronto Police Constable Marc Pinizzotto was shot and killed during the execution of a search warrant connected to the consulate investigation. The 43-year-old father of two had served with Toronto police for 18 years.
Days later, Toronto police described alleged gun-for-hire networks recruiting young people through encrypted messages to carry out shootings, including attacks on synagogues. Investigators said participants were required to film attacks to receive payment. Police were still working to establish who was paying for the violence.
After a second consulate shooting on July 27, police charged Xen-Ul-Abdeen Syed, 19, and a 15-year-old boy. Investigators said they believed the suspects had been recruited through an encrypted messaging app and offered money to fire on the building.
As The Bureau reported in November 2025, CSIS Director Dan Rogers warned of growing ties between foreign states and criminal groups, complicating Canada’s response to national-security threats. He said CSIS had reprioritized operations to counter Iranian intelligence proxies, disrupting potentially lethal threats against people in Canada.
Whether that model has any bearing on Belleville remains unknown. A separate investigation in Michigan illustrates the distinction between ideological inspiration and organizational direction. On March 12, an armed man rammed a pickup truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township and exchanged fire with security personnel.
The FBI subsequently assessed the assault as a Hezbollah-inspired terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community. Its findings rested on evidence including the attacker’s online activity, preparations and recorded statements.
Canadian intelligence officials had already warned of the broader danger. A December 2025 briefing by the Integrated Threat Assessment Centre said an extremist attack, including one targeting Jewish Canadians, remained possible. It identified no imminent, credible threat to that holiday season but warned that lone actors or small groups could mobilize with little notice.
In June, speaking at Toronto’s Holy Blossom Temple, Prime Minister Mark Carney said “Canada’s civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians.”
In Belleville, Weddum said the synagogue could not immediately hold services because the building was a crime scene. But the congregation intended to return.
