WARMINGTON: Terrorist planned to kill Jews out of hate but hero cops stopped him
· Toronto Sun
BELLEVILLE – The gunman was clear on who he planned to kill and why.
“You are going to die for Jews!”
Visit turconews.click for more information.
When armed terrorist Sean Ward yelled this outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue, he not only meant it but had a plan and the firepower to do it.
He made sure there was no ambiguity about who he was going after and he would have achieved his goal if he was not shot and killed by Bellville Police first.
“The suspect had the means, the motive, and the mechanisms to cause a mass casualty and the destruction of the Jewish synagogue,” Belleville Police Chief Murray Rodd said at a news conference Thursday.
In addition to the weaponry in his truck and arsenal and rounds he had on his body, Ward also had portable containers fueled with gas that could have been used to create a massive explosion.
“The loss of life and irreversible damage that could have rippled through our community for generations cannot be overstated,” Rodd said.
Gunman had a plan but Const. Jeff Smith got in the way
This attacker almost achieved it. But there was someone in the way.
His name is Const. Jeff Smith, a 13-year veteran of the service who, despite being shot in an ambush outside the shul on Sept. 20 as the sun went down, managed to protect the couple of dozen people were inside observing Yom Kippur – the Jewish faith’s holiest day on the calendar.
This terrorist was not going to get by Smith – no matter how many times he was shot.
Rodd said the gunman initially did a loop around the block to survey the deployment in front of the synagogue and then came back guns a blazing.
“We know that there was a reconnaissance in the presence of our officer, but nothing that would have alarmed him or would have triggered him to be on the defensive,” Rodd said. “He was then ambushed on a second pass. That’s when the shooting started.”
Smith was shot before he could even get out of his vehicle. But he still did. They will be making movies some day about what transpired here.
“Despite suffering life-threatening injuries, within moments of encountering the armed suspect, Const. Smith exited his vehicle and engaged the attacker,” Rodd said. “He was shot multiple times and stayed engaged.”
Witnesses said it was a wild west shootout that was backed up by a short but disturbing video released by police showing Smith behind his vehicle engaged in a shoutout with Ward who was behind a car belonging to a synagogue member who was inside.
It was a war zone
A man in the house across the street said it was frightening loud booms followed by “three or four seconds of still silence” followed by a volley of thunder.
“It was surreal. It was like a war zone,” said a neighbour who watched the whole thing from his front window. “My nine-year-old asked, ‘Are we going to die?'”
At one point in the video, you can see Ward dropping down to the ground to look for a clearer path to aim at Smith. He was three minutes into the war-like firefight when he was backed up by Const. Mike McCurdy who also became embroiled in the gunfight.
“Together Consts. Smith and McCurdy confronted the active attacker and prevented what would have become an unimaginable tragedy,” Rodd said.
They managed to neutralize this threat by shooting Ward with many rounds. He died two days later in hospital.
“They are heroes,” said Rodd.
From B’nai Brith Canada CEO Simon Wolle to Sons of Jacob congregation President Norm Weddum to Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, there was no disagreement about that in this room.
Kerzner said both he and Premier Doug Ford are “so proud of them” and the leadership of Chief Rodd, Deputy Chief Sheri Meeks and their team.
From the beginning of this nightmare, Rodd, his deputy and Belleville Police Association President Adam Donaldson and his group have set a new standard in how communications should work following a critical incident. They provided the public with the name of the shooter, the name of the shot officer and also have updated the media with new information as it comes forward.
They are one impressive police service and this was validated by the attendance of many other police leaders, including Toronto Police Supt. Katherine Stephenson and Kingston Chief of Police Adam MacIntosh, who all indicated how courageous these officers were during such a catastrophic event.
They all understand how close this came to being a massacre. It’s also very clear that this was a targeted attack Jews – something Wolle has been warning about for months after windows were shot out at Toronto-area shuls by saying it won’t be long before it goes from bullets going through windows to bullets going into people.
That is what happened here.
“This was a hate-motivated crime,” said Rodd. “This was a deliberate attack directed at members of the Jewish community during one of the holiest observances of the year.”
As people pray for Smith’s “long road” to recovery with “shrapnel” shot into his brain and other parts of his body, which will require “multiple surgeries,” it’s not lost on anybody here how much more carnage there could have been if not for these brave Belleville cops.
Belleville cops were miracle workers
“It’s a miracle,” said a synagogue member.
The miracle workers were Const. Smith and Const. McCurdy.
Kerzner told the Toronto Sun that shooting everybody inside the synagogue, and blowing up the building and perhaps the whole city block, is not an exaggeration of what could have happened here – thus creating a terror event that would have rivalled what happened in December 2025 at Bondi Beach in Australia .
Two Belleville cops prevented this.
“Their actions represent the very definition of courageous policing,” said Rodd, adding as a result of “their selfless commitment to duty, an extreme incident in an inactive attacker was stopped before innocent lives were lost.”
Now comes the question of just what motivated Ward to do something so dastardly. While there have been reports that he had threatened Jews in a video game in which he tried to take the player name as Kikekiller but had to settle for Kitekiller, Rodd said the work of going through his electronic devices and communications has just begin.
With no significant background in dealing with Belleville Police prior to this, it appears this man, who left the Canadian Armed Forces after five years in 2022 after a refusal to take the COVID-19 vaccination, seems to have slipped through the cracks.
It’s not been suggested that Ward was working with any accomplices or if a 19-year-old arrested just days before by Durham Regional Police for threating an Oshawa synagogue on Yom Kippur is part of the investigation. But Kerzner said he will immediately ensure the practice of sharing information like this is prioritized since many members of the Ontario Jewish community say they did not know about the earlier charges.
Rodd said Smith being at the synagogue was not in response to any extra intelligence or a pay duty but a deployment as part of a security risk assessment to protect Belleville’s Jewish citizens.
It worked.
At least 24 members of Belleville’s Jewish community are alive because of it – and that of the valour and heroics of two fine cops named McMurdy and Smith.