Toronto police have made an arrest connected with a Toronto area synagogue shooting that occurred Thursday night when three people were shot at with a replica firearm.
In a press conference outside the Chasidei Bobov synagogue Friday afternoon, Acting Deputy Police Chief Joe Matthews announced that an 18-year-old man from Vaughan, Ontario has been arrested in connection with the shooting, as well as a similar shooting that occurred on April 30, which was previously reported by National Post. Police gave the suspect’s name as Ruslan Novruzov.
Matthews described the incidents as “deeply concerning, particularly because the victims were visibly identifiable members of our Jewish community.”
He said on April 30th three people were walking in the area Bathurst Street, Lawrence Avenue West, when they were shot at from a vehicle with an imitation firearm. “All three victims sustained minor injuries, and the suspect fled the area in a blue SUV. Last night, at approximately 10:45 p.m., officers responded to a second similar incident.”
Three people standing outside the Chasidei Bobov synagogue “were shot at from a passing vehicle, again with an imitation firearm. One person was struck. The suspects fled in a blue SUV.”
Police executed search warrants early this morning “approximately eight hours after the second incident occurred,” on a residence and vehicle in Vaughan, Ontario. Novruzov was arrested and charged with various weapons offences. Evidence was also seized, including two gel blaster imitation firearms.
“I want to acknowledge the fear and distress this has caused. We recognize that Jewish residents have been living with a heightened sense of fear due to repeated incidents targeting their community, and this only adds to that, which is completely unacceptable. While the weapons used were imitation firearms, the impact is very real. These are criminal acts that we allege were meant to intimidate and cause fear.”
Ontario’s solicitor general, Michael Kerzner also addressed the press and spoke of the Jewish community around the world being “under attack. We are under attack, like never before. Antisemitism, a global virus that has metastasized, finds itself right here on Bathurst Street. A street that my grandparents moved to from Poland in 1932, a street that represents the Jewish community’s past, present, and one day will represent the future.”
He said Thursday night’s shooting “at one of the most revered, respected, and holy synagogues in Canada, is totally unacceptable. Our government, led by Premier Ford, will never accept the normalization of even one act of antisemitism. Not only will we call it out, we will work day and night with our police services.”
He thanked Toronto mayor Olivia Chow, who was with him today for a meeting with community leaders of the Toronto-Bathurst Street corridor. Then he made an emotional plea: “Know this if anybody feels that one act of antisemitism is going to be okay, it’s not. It’s time that everybody in our community, of other faiths, of other heritages, stand together.”
He called on non-Jews to go on Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, “to a synagogue, a Jewish congregation, in our city, and stand outside that congregation in solidarity. Stand, raise your voices. Stand a little stronger for the values of Canada and Ontario that unite us, that bind us one together.”
On Friday afternoon, Ontario Premier Doug Ford expressed revulsion over this latest act of violence.
“I am disgusted by the targeted antisemitic attacks that took place in North York over the last several days, including last night outside a synagogue. These attacks will not be tolerated and I’m pleased the Toronto Police have acted quickly in response and have a suspect in custody. I expect that all those who are responsible will be punished to the full extent of the law.”
I am disgusted by the targeted antisemitic attacks that took place in North York over the last several days, including last night outside a synagogue.
These attacks will not be tolerated and I’m pleased the Toronto Police have acted quickly in response and have a suspect in…— Doug Ford (@fordnation) May 8, 2026
Late Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote about his support for law enforcement in combating such violence on X.
“I am relieved to learn that one person has been arrested. Law enforcement has my full support in their investigation into this incident as well as in their efforts to ensure that justice is served for the victims and the entire Jewish community,” wrote Carney.
He added: “Last year, we introduced a new bill aimed at strengthening the Criminal Code, combating hate, and protecting our communities, and we remain firmly determined to fight the scourge of antisemitism and hate in all its forms.”
Hier soir, dans un acte antisémite odieux, trois personnes ont été prises pour cible à l’aide d’une réplique d’arme à feu devant la synagogue Chasidei Bobov à North York, une attaque qui a fait un blessé.
Je suis soulagé d’apprendre qu’une personne a été arrêtée. Les forces de…— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) May 8, 2026
The Jewish community in Toronto “is completely shaken and very angry,” Sara Lefton, chief development officer with the UJA Federation of Toronto said in an interview on Friday.
Lefton has spoken to members of the Chasidei Bobov synagogue congregation. She says, “No one is going to let this get in the way of showing up with pride to the synagogue every today.” But that pride notwithstanding, she is strenuously critical that this violence “has become so normalized.”
She speaks of her two children, who are old enough to know what’s going on and have “to wake up several times a week to shootings directed at our synagogues. And now at Jews.”
This is “much bigger” than a single incident, she says, and calls on political and civil leadership “to shut down Jew hatred. All levels of of government in civil society need to be clear that this is not acceptable.”
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs echoed Lefton’s sentiments in an X post on Friday.
“This is not normal, and it cannot become normalized. Individuals were targeted outside a Jewish institution and subjected to intimidation and violence because of who they are and where they were,” says the CIJA. “The cumulative impact on the Jewish community is profound. Families should not have to fear attending synagogue, gathering in community spaces, or simply standing outside Jewish institutions in Toronto.”
Last night, three individuals standing outside a Toronto synagogue were shot at with a replica firearm, leaving one person with minor injuries. This marks the second such incident in a week, following three separate shootings targeting synagogues in March.
This is not normal,… https://t.co/oFgWmpk3Xj— CIJA (@CIJAinfo) May 8, 2026
Deputy Leader of the federal Conservatives, Melissa Lantsman, was even more pointed in her criticism of Canadian political leadership in an X post.
“Heartbroken and furious at the same time over another attack on a Canadian synagogue by thugs who target the innocent at prayer,” she wrote. “Antisemites are doing this. And governments too spineless to name them or defend what Canada once stood for is giving them the room to flourish.”
Heartbroken and furious at the same time over another attack on a Canadian synagogue by thugs who target the innocent at prayer.
You can’t spend decades hollowing out a national identity, tell people shared values are the problem, then act shocked when hate fills the void.… https://t.co/cL7qNEIC5M— Melissa Lantsman (@MelissaLantsman) May 8, 2026
Toronto writer and educator Aviva Klompas asked in an X post on Friday morning: “How long before shooting ‘replica guns’ at Jews turns into shooting real guns at Jews?”
Replica guns can include pellet guns, according to the RCMP . Former Conservative MP Lisa MacCormack Raitt was dismissive of this fact in an X post. “ I don’t care if the firearm was a “replica” – this was a targetted shooting aimed to harm and terrorize the Jewish community,” she wrote.
I don’t care if the firearm was a “replica” – this was a targetted shooting aimed to harm and terrorize the Jewish community. https://t.co/IONAb9gvZm
— Hon. Lisa MacCormack Raitt P.C. (@lraitt) May 8, 2026
This latest incident comes after the recent arrest of an 18-year-old man in connection with two shooting of synagogues in Toronto and Vaughan, Ont., in March.
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