Toronto police investigate after Jewish-owned bakery chain hit by gunfire and vandalism

By Max Saltman, Alaa Elassar, CNN

(CNN) — Two Jewish-owned bagel shops in Toronto were damaged Sunday in incidents now under investigation by the Toronto Police Service’s Hate Crime Unit.

Two locations of Kiva’s, a bakery specializing in bagels, were attacked in the morning, with one shop’s window damaged by gunfire, police said in a post on X. The second location in the city also had a window damaged, but investigators found no evidence of gunshots there.

“At this time, investigators are examining whether the incidents are connected and working to identify those responsible,” police said. “There have been no reported injuries.”

CNN reached out to Kiva’s for comment on the attacks.

“We understand that this is concerning for those that work and live in this area, especially members of the Jewish community, and we have all the resources available to thoroughly investigate this matter,” Duty Inspector Scott Bradbury told reporters Sunday, according to footage from CTV, a CNN newsgathering partner.

The attacks rattled neighbors who say the bakeries are fixtures in the community and are places they visit every day.

“We live near the neighborhood, and this is where we come for our food, and we feel threatened and unsafe,” one resident who lives on the same street told CTV, adding that she feels her community is being targeted.

Even as residents described feeling shaken, she said the people who run the bakeries “have lots of people that are looking after them right now.”

Marjan Mekis, who lives nearby and visits every day for his daily Danish, called the attack “beyond sad.”

“It feels very personal to me,” Mekis said. “I could have been in there, or anybody in this neighborhood. It could have been daytime as opposed to nighttime. Thank God no one was in there. But still, what does that do? Shooting a bullet into a bakery because you don’t like the fact that they happen to be Jewish.”

“It doesn’t matter what God you pray to and what your religion is,” he added. “It’s not right.”

The damage to the two bakeries comes nearly a month after a deadly shooting in Montreal heightened concerns for Jewish communities in Canada. Last month, a gunman whose writings investigators say promoted antisemitic, misogynistic and anti-capitalist violence opened fire in Montreal, killing two people: an officer and an Israeli citizen who was described as a beloved member of Montreal’s Jewish community. The gunman was killed following a shootout.

Earlier in June, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a speech at a Toronto synagogue that the country is “failing” Jewish Canadians and pledged to invest tens of millions of dollars in security for houses of worship.

Carney said over two-thirds of all religion-motivated hate crimes last year were directed at Jewish Canadians, with antisemites in Canada firing bullets at Jewish schools, attacking community centers and targeting Jewish-owned businesses.

There has been a sharp rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents globally since the Israel-Hamas war began October 7, 2023.

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