Unambiguously Jew-Hate Motivated

"[It was a hate-motivated crime, Sean Ward had the] means, the motive and the mechanisms [to launch a larger attack]."

"The loss of life and the irreversible damage that could have been rippled through our community for generations cannot be overstated."

"[The attack was an] exclusive threat to our Jewish community." 

Belleville Police Service Chief Murray Rodd 

 

 

Belleville Ontario's chief of police recounted that the attacker of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue had shouted "You are going to die for the Jews", as he shot at the police constable who was seated on watch in an unmarked vehicle in front of the synagogue as a precautionary measure against violence being perpetrated on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. A day that represents the most sombre day of the Jewish religious calendar. A video had captured the sound of gunfire exchanges between 29-year-old Ward and two police officers.

 

In his intention to kill members of the Jewish community on Sunday evening, during the holiest day in Judaism, the attacker first attempted to put Constable Jeff Smith out of reactive commission by shooting him to death. He had earlier reconnoitered the street, driving by the vehicle that the constable sat within vigilantly. When Ward drove back onto the street and approached the unmarked vehicle he emerged and aimed at Constable Smith's neck. There were two shots, resulting in two injuries.

 

Ward, explained Chief Rodd, had a shotgun and a "significant amount" of ammunition. His reconnaissance around the synagogue reflected his intention to commit a violent crime that would result in mass bloodshed. His intention being to enter the synagogue unobstructed, after shooting Constable Smith, to use that shotgun on the 25 congregants assembled for prayer on that holiest of days. And while Constable Smith made note of the suspect, there was nothing initially suspicious that would alert him to the danger, that he was prey to an armed stalker.

 

"He was then ambushed on a second pass. That's when the shooting started", explained Chief Rodd. Constable Smith, although critically wounded, emerged from the vehicle to pursue the gunman. A second constable arrived moments later, Constable Mike McCurdy, who also opened fire on Ward, helping to incapacitate him and in the process denying him the opportunity to enter the synagogue and commit his planned mass atrocity. 

 

Officials with the Special Investigations Unit are seen exiting an SIU vehicle on Victoria Avenue on the morning of Monday, Sept 21, not far from the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville. Investigators are looking into a gunfire exchange on Sunday evening involving a Belleville Police officer and a man outside the synagogue. Both men were critically injured and transported to Kingston General Hospital. DEREK BALDWIN/Belleville Intelligencer 

 

Ward, shot and critically injured, died in hospital a day later.  Constable Smith taken to Kingston General Hospital in critical condition, had sustained "multiple gunshot wounds to his head and his body, and continues to receive treatment for significant injuries. He is expected to undergo multiple surgeries related to serious head trauma. While his recovery will be lengthy and challenging, he is making progress every day", advised Chief Rodd. Constable McCurdy was uninjured.

 

The Department of National Defence confirmed that a man with Ward's name had served for five years in an Alberta detachment of the Canadian Armed Forces. He was discharged on a code of conduct charge having refused to take a COVID-19 vaccine. COVID, he claimed on social media, was a plot to kill non-Jews through a Jewish conspiracy. Ward was a resident of Quinte West, 18 kilometres west of Belleville, where he lived with his mother. Confirmation that Ward had been radicalized while serving in the military was not available through the RCMP's integrated national enforcement team. 

"It's one thing to say hate has no place here in our province and in our country, but we already know that. We have to go further and faster."

"We have to have a clarion call that there must be consequences for people that behave in this manner, that do not subscribe to the values of who we are."

Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner 

 

"[The Belleville Police Force has a lengthy relationship with the local Jewish community, providing security] whenever they considered it necessary."

"I guess one of the messages to my colleagues around the province and the country is, it is clearly time that we all be proactive."

Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd 

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