UPDATE (10/18/24): One Man and One Youth Arrested in a Firearm Discharge Investigation at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School
“The safety and well-being of our communities remains our highest priority. Our increased police presence across the city will continue for as long as necessary, demonstrating our commitment to keeping all neighbourhoods safe. As I’ve said before, our investigations are ongoing, and charges can be laid at any time—whether immediately after the incident or in the days and weeks that follow,” said Chief of Police Myron Demkiw from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) annual conference in Boston. “I want to thank the members of our Service who have worked tirelessly since this incident to identify those responsible. A special thanks to our Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force, Hate Crime Unit, Forensic Identification Services, and our partners at the Centre of Forensic Sciences for their dedication to the safety of our communities.”
For the second time this year, gunshots were fired during the early morning Shabbat hours at Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary School, a Jewish girls’ school near Finch Ave. and Dufferin St. in Toronto.
Police received a report at around 4 a.m. on Oct. 12, which was also the day of Yom Kippur. No one was inside or injured during the overnight hour, but several front windows were smashed and shell casings were found near the sidewalk.
The following day, on Oct. 13, Jewish organizations and politicians came together in front of the school to hold a joint press conference denouncing the attack. Among the speakers were Rabbi Yaacov Vidal and Rabbi Nochum Sosover, the principal and executive director of Bais Chaya Mushka, respectively; Friends of Simon Wiesenthal’s CEO Michael Levitt; Daniel Held, chief program officer of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto; city councillor James Pasternak; and federal cabinet minister Ya’ara Saks.
Behind them, the school’s windows were covered by several blue tarps to keep the rain out.
“What happened here, this weekend, crossed a dangerous line,” said Daniel Held. “This is not the Toronto that my parents immigrated to. This is not the Toronto I grew up in. But is in the Toronto that my children are going to face unless we take strong action.”
The attack echoes a nearly identical incident that happened in May 2024, when two gunmen exited their car at 4 a.m. to fire several rounds into the school, once again shattering the front windows. Video evidence showed the two suspects running back into their car to make a quick getaway.
In the press conference, Rabbi Nochum Sosover blamed the repeat offence on the “soft response” to skyrocketing numbers of hate crimes and antisemitic incidents in the city.
“I’m sure there was something was done about [the first attack], they did some investigation, but we didn’t catch the perpetrators, and that’s the reason why they felt comfortable to do it again,” Rabbi Sosover said.
As of May 2024, hate crimes were up 64 percent over the same period the previous year. Antisemitic acts have long comprised the largest number of hate crimes in the city—as of July 31, 45 percent of all 273 reported hate crimes in Toronto in 2024 had been antisemitic in nature.
“Each one of those hate crime statistics and incidents of antisemitism are real-life incidents like this in our city,” Michael Levitt said. He then called on politicians to follow up their condemnations of Jew-hatred with real action.
Rabbi Sosover added words of thanks to the parents and students at his school for their resilience and positive attitudes, and mentioned that the upcoming holiday of Sukkot is a time for Jewish families and communities to come together in unity.
This, too, was reminiscent of the response to the attack in May, after which the local Jewish community transformed their shock into solidarity during a large rally and Lag b’Omer festival in the incident’s aftermath.
