u/AccentedE

Source:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/belleville-police-shooting-siu-synagogue-9.7351776

Investigators have identified the wounded suspect in the shooting incident that unfolded near a Belleville, Ont., synagogue Sunday night, and the local police officer who was also wounded.

The suspect has been named as Sean Ward, 29, of neighbouring Quinte West. The officer, who remains in hospital in critical but stable condition, is Const. Jeff Smith.

The Belleville Police Service confirmed their identities Monday in a noon-hour news conference held just outside the taped-off scene. Sons of Jacob Synagogue is located at the corner of Bleeker and Victoria avenues.

Yom Kippur services were underway inside when the suspect allegedly opened fire on Smith with a shotgun while the officer was stationed outside the building, Belleville Deputy Police Chief Sheri Meeks and Kristy Denette, a spokesperson for Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU), said during the news conference.

Another Belleville police officer also fired their weapon.

Smith had been parked outside Sons of Jacob at the request of the synagogue, its president told CBC News.

"We always have police protection," Norm Weddum said of large gatherings at the synagogue, adding that the pre-emptive police protection put in place for Sunday evening had been requested as a matter of routine a week earlier.

"Thank God that person was there," Weddum said of the officer.

Smith, who has been with Belleville's police service since 2013, suffered serious injuries during the shootout and is recovering in an intensive care unit where he remains in critical but stable condition.

"While he continues to face a significant road to recovery, his condition has stabilized and we remain hopeful and encouraged by his progress," Meeks said.

The shooting is a reminder that "every day officers leave their homes and loved ones not knowing what they may encounter," she added.

Ward is in life-threatening condition. "It's my understanding that he was very critical and but was sort of brought back to life, so to speak," Denette said.

Police on Monday were at the Quinte West home Ward shares with his mother. They have not yet announced any charges against him.

A former employer and neighbours tell CBC News that Ward was formerly in the Canadian military in Alberta.

On September 11, 2026, a student stabbed and critically injured another student and a 59-year-old janitor at a high school in Zagreb, Croatia. He attempted to stab another 59-year-old employee before being subdued by other school staff.

https://www.vecernji.hr/vijesti/dovrsena-istraga-horora-u-zagrebackoj-skoli-nozem-krenuo-na-troje-ljudi-devetero-prestravljene-djece-gledalo-krvavi-pohod-1994765

The revolver was unused, same with the pistol, which jammed after one shot.

On the morning of August 27, 2025, a mass shooting occurred at the Church of the Annunciation in the Windom neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The attack took place during a scheduled school-wide Mass attended by the students and faculty of Annunciation Catholic School. Two children, Fletcher Merkel and Harper Moyski, and the perpetrator died in the shooting. Twenty-eight other people were injured: twenty-four schoolchildren and three elderly people from gunfire as well as a victim who sustained non-gunshot wounds. The perpetrator was identified as Robin M. Westman.