"Two people are critically injured, including a police officer, after a shooting outside a Belleville, Ont., synagogue Sunday night.
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said a Belleville police officer was outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue near Victoria and Bleecker avenues at approximately 7 p.m. when there was an “exchange of gunfire” with a man who was carrying a rifle.
Both the 29-year-old suspect and the officer sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to hospital, the SIU said. The officer is in critical, but stable condition. The suspect is in life-threatening condition.
Doug Lobel is a member of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue who was at the service Sunday night. He said the “most terrifying part” of the ordeal was hearing the shots, but not knowing what was happening outside the temple’s walls.
“We didn’t know if there was more than one shooter. We didn’t know if the officer was still there, if he was injured. But the biggest concern was, was a gunman going to breach the doors and start targeting us … what do we do in that situation?” he told CP24 on Monday.
Lobel said police attending the scene instructed the congregation to stay inside the synagogue as the situation unfolded.
As they remained inside, Lobel said the rabbi and other members of the synagogue put tables together for prayer.
“We got the tables together. We started doing some prayers, and we just tried our best to maintain some normalcy, as difficult as that was,” he said. “We probably did a few prayers and tried to hold hands and did some songs together until the police came and said the SWAT team had to come inside and take a look around for our safety.”"
www.cp24.com
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said a Belleville police officer was outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue near Victoria and Bleecker avenues at approximately 7 p.m. when there was an “exchange of gunfire” with a man who was carrying a rifle.
Both the 29-year-old suspect and the officer sustained gunshot wounds and were taken to hospital, the SIU said. The officer is in critical, but stable condition. The suspect is in life-threatening condition.
Doug Lobel is a member of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue who was at the service Sunday night. He said the “most terrifying part” of the ordeal was hearing the shots, but not knowing what was happening outside the temple’s walls.
“We didn’t know if there was more than one shooter. We didn’t know if the officer was still there, if he was injured. But the biggest concern was, was a gunman going to breach the doors and start targeting us … what do we do in that situation?” he told CP24 on Monday.
Lobel said police attending the scene instructed the congregation to stay inside the synagogue as the situation unfolded.
As they remained inside, Lobel said the rabbi and other members of the synagogue put tables together for prayer.
“We got the tables together. We started doing some prayers, and we just tried our best to maintain some normalcy, as difficult as that was,” he said. “We probably did a few prayers and tried to hold hands and did some songs together until the police came and said the SWAT team had to come inside and take a look around for our safety.”"
PM Carney condemns shooting outside Ontario synagogue, SIU to speak at 12 p.m. ET. LIVE updates here.
Two people are critically injured, including a police officer, after a shooting outside a Belleville, Ont., synagogue Sunday night. Follow for live updates.
www.cp24.com
