Nearly three years after bullets tore through the entrance of Montreal’s Yeshiva Gedola school, a man has admitted his involvement in the attack, prosecutors are seeking a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence, and the Jewish community is demanding that the courts recognize the seriousness of shooting at a Jewish school.
But one of the most important questions remains unanswered. Why was Yeshiva Gedola targeted in the first place?
Abdirazak Mahdi Ahmed, 23, pleaded guilty on September 9 to discharging a firearm in connection with the November 12, 2023 shooting at the Jewish school on Deacon Road in Côte-des-Neiges. The Crown and defence agreed to recommend a 66-month prison sentence, with credit for time already served. The sentencing proceedings were scheduled to resume on October 19 to allow representatives of Montreal’s Jewish community to address the court.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has called for a sentence reflecting the seriousness of the attack.
Eta Yudin, CIJA’s senior vice-president, said the organization expects the sentence to reflect the severity of what it considers an anti-Jewish attack and send a message to those seeking to spread hatred and fear.
The prosecution, however, has acknowledged that it cannot establish an anti-Jewish motive beyond a reasonable doubt. Ahmed was not charged with a terrorism offence, despite the shooting taking place at a Jewish educational institution just weeks after the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.
The evidence presented in court established Ahmed’s involvement in the November 12 attack but did not explain his precise role.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the shooting took place shortly before 5 a.m. The attacker arrived in an Acura RDX stolen the previous day from a residential parking area in Vaudreuil-Dorion. Several shots were fired at the school’s main entrance before the vehicle fled.
Police recovered four 9mm shell casings and discovered three bullet holes in the entrance door. Nobody was inside the building and nobody was injured.
Investigators subsequently recovered the stolen SUV in Lachine. Inside were two projectiles, a balaclava, a surgical mask and latex gloves. Ahmed’s DNA was found on several of the items, while cellphone records placed him near the school and the location where the vehicle was abandoned.
Following his arrest in May 2024, investigators placed an undercover police officer in his cell. Statements Ahmed made to the officer became part of the evidence connecting him to the shooting.
The agreed facts did not establish whether Ahmed personally pulled the trigger, drove the vehicle or participated in another capacity.
A second suspect, Feijhoo-Leito Joseph, then 19, was arrested in February 2025 in connection with the same shooting. His current court status has not been independently confirmed.
The attack was not an isolated incident.
Three days earlier, on November 9, 2023, gunfire struck both Yeshiva Gedola and Azrieli Talmud Torah. Neither school was occupied at the time. The November 12 attack marked the second time Yeshiva Gedola had been shot at in four days.
As Montreal Jewish News previously reported, Ahmed’s guilty plea concerns only the November 12 shooting. No charges have been publicly announced in connection with the November 9 attacks.
The absence of an established motive has also raised questions about whether those physically involved in attacks on Jewish institutions are necessarily the people who select their targets.
In a previous Montreal Jewish News investigation, the possibility of criminals being recruited to attack Jewish institutions was examined following testimony in another Montreal court case.
Mohamed Ilyess Akodad, convicted of firebombing Congregation Beth Tikvah and the neighbouring Federation CJA offices in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, testified that he had been offered $15,000 to carry out the attack. He maintained that money, rather than hatred of Jews, motivated his participation.
When Ahmed was first arrested, Jewish community leaders welcomed the development but warned that the shootings had forced substantial additional security measures at Jewish institutions throughout Montreal.
Nearly three years later, the criminal proceedings have produced a guilty plea and a proposed prison sentence. They have not, however, produced an explanation for the selection of Yeshiva Gedola nor have they resolved the two earlier shootings.
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