After Australia Hanukkah massacre, Montreal's Jewish community decries 'times of danger'
"We are in direct contact with leaders of Montreal's Jewish community and are listening to their concerns," the Montreal police department said.
Montreal police have announced that, following a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community in Sydney, Australia, they will increase “vigilance and visibility” in communities in which Hanukkah celebrations are taking place.
“We are in direct contact with leaders of Montreal’s Jewish community and are listening to their concerns,” the police department said in a statement Sunday.
At least 15 people were killed and more than three dozen others injured in a shooting by two gunmen at an event at Bondi Beach in Sydney celebrating the start of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah on Sunday evening, local time. Reports said more than 1,000 were in attendance.
Australian police have deemed the shooting a terrorist attack and said the suspects were a father and son. Authorities said the father was shot dead by police and the son was in custody, in critical condition. Police said they had found what they believed to be several improvised explosive devices in a vehicle linked to the suspect who was killed.
Victims ranged in age from 10 to 87 and many of those being treated were in critical condition. Police commissioner Mal Lanyon indicated at a news conference that the two men were the only suspects. “We are not looking for a third person,” he said.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada posted on X: “The attack on a Jewish community in Australia breaks my heart. A day of great celebration and love has been turned into an act of violence and antisemitism.”
[Source: The Montreal Gazette]
