A Montreal man has pleaded guilty to shooting at a Jewish school in Côte-des-Neiges almost three years ago. On Nov. 12, 2023, Montreal police were called at around 5 a.m. to the Yeshiva Gedola on Deacon Road and found bullet holes in the façade of the building. No one was inside at the time of the shooting and no injuries were reported. On Wednesday, the accused, 20-year-old Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed, entered a guilty plea to one count of discharging a firearm. The Crown is suggesting a sentence of five-and-a-half years for the crime. According to an agreed statement of facts presented in court, Mahdi Ahmed’s DNA was found inside a stolen Acura RDX that was used as a getaway car, including on a face mask and glove found inside the vehicle. Cellphone tower data also showed that his phone was near the Jewish school and where the stolen vehicle was later abandoned after the shooting. Three bullet holes were found in the door of the school and four 9mm shell casings were found at the scene. Montreal police arrested Mahdi Ahmed in the LaSalle borough on May 22, 2024. “Following his arrest, an undercover officer was placed in the same cell as the accused. While in custody, the defendant made certain statements that led to the conclusion that he was involved in the discharge of the firearm on November 12, 2023," according to the agreed statement of facts. Not enough evidence to prove shooting was hate crime: Crown In an interview, Crown prosecutor Jean-Christofe Ardeneus said that there was not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooting was a hate crime. The sentencing decision was postponed, he explained, so that members of Montreal’s Jewish community could address the court about the shooting’s impact on Jewish Montrealers. Mahdi Ahmed, who has no prior criminal record, is expected to be sentenced on Oct. 19. Eta Yudin, the senior vice-president of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), said in a post on social media that the organization intends to be present in court for the sentencing. “We expect the sentence to reflect the severity of this anti-Jewish act. This must send a clear message to those who seek to attack Quebec’s shared values and spread hate, antisemitism, and fear: there are real legal consequences for committing such acts,” Yudin said. The November 2023 shooting at the school was the second time in three days that a Jewish school was hit by gunfire. In the overnight hours of Nov. 9, someone fired gunshots at the building and at another Jewish school – the United Talmud Torahs of Montreal – prompting police to open hate crime investigations.
