Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed was sentenced Monday to five and a half years in prison for his involvement in the November 2023 shooting at Montreal’s Yeshiva Gedola school, which had already been struck by gunfire three days earlier. The 66 month sentence matches the joint recommendation submitted by the Crown and defence following his guilty plea in September.
Ahmed, 23, pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm while acting recklessly as to the consequences. He has been in custody since May 2024, and the sentencing recommendation included credit for time already served. The full 66 months therefore should not be confused with an additional five and a half years beginning Monday.
The attack took place shortly before 5 a.m. on November 12, 2023, at the school on Deacon Road in Côte-des-Neiges. Police found three bullet holes in the entrance and four 9 mm shell casings outside. Nobody was inside the building and no one was injured, but this was the second shooting at the same Jewish school in four days.
The investigation led police to an Acura RDX stolen the previous day in Vaudreuil Dorion and subsequently abandoned in Lachine. Inside the vehicle, investigators recovered projectiles, a balaclava, a surgical mask and latex gloves. Ahmed’s DNA was found on several items, while cellphone evidence placed him near the school and the location where the vehicle was abandoned. After his arrest, statements he made to an undercover officer placed in his cell also became part of the evidence against him.
As MJN previously reported, the agreed facts established Ahmed’s involvement without specifying whether he personally fired the weapon, drove the vehicle or participated in another capacity. Prosecutors also said they could not establish an anti Jewish motive beyond a reasonable doubt. Ahmed was prosecuted for the firearm offence, not under terrorism provisions.
At the November 2 sentencing hearing, Eta Yudin, senior vice president for Quebec at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, addressed the court about the impact on Montreal’s Jewish community. She said targeting a school caused harm extending beyond the physical damage and urged a judicial response that would deter further attacks.
Monday’s sentence was handed down exactly three years after the November 9, 2023 shootings at Yeshiva Gedola and Azrieli Talmud Torah. Prosecutors said there was no evidence connecting him to the earlier shooting.
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