Two Jewish schools in the Côte-des-Neiges district were targeted by gunfire on the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) said it had opened an investigation.
The first incident occurred at a school on Deacon Road, according to authorities. It is said that it was students who discovered the impact of a bullet at the main entrance to the facility on Thursday morning.
The SPVM was subsequently informed of a second incident which also occurred during the night approximately two miles from the Deacon Road school.
At least one bullet casing was found on the ground at the scene of the second incident.
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These two incidents occurred against the backdrop of significant tensions between the Jewish and Palestinian communities in the metropolis related to the war between Israel and Hamas.
On the sidelines of a joint announcement with the federal government on funding for affordable housing, Quebec Premier François Legault spoke of terrible, terrible events.
Mr. Legault also mentioned the altercation that took place on Wednesday at Concordia University and reiterated that this was completely unacceptable in Quebec; It’s zero tolerance.
I appeal to the police: we do not want hatred and violence in Quebec.
“We will not tolerate this,” he added.
The message must be clear: I understand that we see terrible scenes on television … But here we must be able to talk to each other calmly, the head of government continued, saying he calls for calm on all Quebecers.
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A close-up of a shot fired at a school on Saint-Kevin Street in Côte-des-Neiges.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Simon-Marc Charron
A lot of fear
Also as part of the joint announcement on affordable housing, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that there is currently great fear and anxiety in the country.
What is happening in the Middle East is impacting the mental health, well-being and mood of millions of people who see this every night and who see this constantly on social networks. It’s amazing the images we see! he said.
I understand that there are people who are so deeply shocked by what is happening that they feel the need to share and stir up this hatred. “But that’s not us, the Quebecers, the Canadians,” Mr. Trudeau said.
Like his counterpart in Quebec, the head of the federal government insisted that the scenes that occurred in Concordia or the shootings against Jewish schools were unacceptable!
Visibly angry, Mr. Trudeau reiterated that hate and violence are against innocent people because we disagree with them […]it has no place anywhere in Canada.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante wrote on social media that anti-Semitism, like any other demonstration of hate and violence, has no place in our society. At a press conference with Alain Vaillancourt, responsible for public security on the Executive Committee, Gracia Katahwa, mayor of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, and Vincent Richer, deputy director of the SPVM, Ms. Plante expressed his concerns and warned the perpetrators of these acts, for which they would have to answer [leurs] Actions.
Finally, the Federation CJA, which says it represents the Jewish community of Montreal, reiterated in a reaction published online that the incidents represent a blatant escalation of the anti-Semitism that the Jewish community has suffered since October 7.
During its own press conference Thursday afternoon, the association maintained through a spokesperson that the SPVM is working with the organization to ensure the safety of our community.
Nevertheless, according to the spokesman, we said on Tuesday that a red line had been crossed… Today we don’t even know where we are anymore.