'Light will prevail': Students return after Jewish girls' school in Toronto hit with gunfire for a 2nd time

Police inspect a broken window at Bais Chaya Mushka elementary school Saturday October 12, 2024. The Jewish girls' school was shot at for the second time this year on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews.

Students are returning to a Jewish girls' school in Toronto two days after it was struck with gunfire for the second time this year.

There is a police presence outside Bais Chaya Mushka elementary school, in the area of Dufferin Street and Finch Avenue West, as students head back to class this morning.

Gunfire rang out at the building around 4 a.m. on Oct. 12. Police said suspects in a vehicle shot at the school, hitting windows and other parts of the building.

Nobody was inside the school at the time and no injuries were reported. However the incident occurred as Jews were observing Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Rabbi Yaacov Vidal, the principal at Bais Chaya Mushka, spoke outside the school Sunday.

“No parent should ever have to be fearful sending their child to school,” Vidal said.

He said the school will not be intimidated by threats of violence.

“Goodness will always prevail, truth will prevail, light will prevail, and we’re going to continue to do what we do and teach these children and educate them, because that’s what they deserve,” Vidal said.

He said the message to the school community is “we are doing everything we can to keep them safe, and we continue adding in goodness and kindness, because that will always overcome any evil and negativity.”

The school was hit with gunfire back in May in a similar incident. Surveillance footage from that incident showed a dark-coloured vehicle pulling up in front of the school at around 4:50 a.m. Two suspects wearing dark clothing then got out and discharged firearms at the school, police said.

No arrests have been made in either incident so far.

Toronto 'headed for the abyss'

The latest incident of gunfire at the school also comes amid a surge of antisemitic incidents in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

Other members of the Jewish community spoke outside the school Sunday and decried an environment where criminals feel free to “spread fear” in the community.

“This is not the Toronto that I grew up in, but it is the Toronto that my children are going to face unless we take strong action,” Daniel Held, chief program officer at UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, said outside the school Sunday.

“What happened here this weekend was the latest example of an escalating antisemitism unlike anything we’ve seen in the GTA. As Jews, we know that violent words lead to violent actions. This weekend’s shooting was a predictable consequence of a year of Jews and Israelis being dehumanized and demonized right here in the city.”

(Left to right) Coun. James Pasternak, UJA Federation of Greater Toronto Chief Program Officer Daniel Held and Principal Rabbi Yaacov Vidal speak outside Bais Chaya Mushka elementary school Sunday October 13, 2024.

At the Toronto Police Services Board meeting last week, police confirmed that there has been a 42.6 per cent increase in hate crime occurrences in the city compared to the same time period last year.

Police noted that the greatest increase has been against the Jewish community, with a 74.5 per cent increase.

Coun. James Pasternak also spoke outside the school Sunday and said all three levels of government need to be working together on the problem or the city is “heading for the abyss.”

“When our schools aren’t safe, nobody is safe. When our places of worship aren’t safe, nobody is safe, and unless there’s a firm commitment from all three levels of government on security, policing and law enforcement, Toronto is headed for the abyss,” Pasternak said.

Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Olivia Chow went to the school Saturday. Ford called it “unacceptable,” and a “disgusting act of antisemitism.” Chow called it a “horrific antisemitic act” and said “Jewish families and the Jewish community should not be made to fear for their safety.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also released a statement saying that “antisemitism is a disgusting and dangerous form of hate — and we won’t let it stand.”

With files from Bryann Aguilar