Canadian ex-soldier who shouted 'you're going to die for the Jews' before Yom Kippur synagogue shooting is confirmed as hate attack

From the Newshound archive · first published 25 September 2026.

Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd confirmed Thursday that former Canadian soldier Sean Ward, 29, carried out a targeted antisemitic attack outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Ontario on Yom Kippur, shouting "you're going to die for the Jews" before opening fire. Ward, who served as an infantry corporal with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry until 2022, had the "means, motive and mechanisms to cause a mass casualty," Rodd said; roughly two dozen worshippers were inside at the time. Constable Jeff Smith, the officer stationed outside the synagogue, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head and body but stepped from his vehicle and fought the attacker for nearly three minutes until a second officer arrived.

Smith, a 13-year veteran, faces multiple surgeries for serious head trauma but is described as "making progress every day."

Ward was critically wounded in the exchange and died the following day; between 20 and 30 shots were discharged in total.

In the wake of the attack, which left none of the congregants injured, Toronto police have stepped up patrols at synagogues across the city.