Officer Injured in Shootout Outside Synagogue in Eastern Ontario During Yom Kippur

A Belleville police officer and a male suspect have been taken to hospital after reports of an evening shootout at a synagogue in the eastern Ontario city as congregants were celebrating Yom Kippur on Sept. 20. The Belleville Police Service has called in the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to investigate after the incident, according to a statement posted to social media. The SIU confirmed the shootout in a statement which also said the 29-year-old male suspect is “in hospital in life threatening condition” and the officer is in “critical-stable condition.” Neither police nor the SIU has said what led to the shooting or if the synagogue was the target, but Police Association of Ontario President Mark Baxter said on social media that the officer was shot while “bravely guarding the Sons of Jacob Synagogue and the Jewish community during Yom Kippur.”