{"id":590788,"date":"2026-04-08T18:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/590788\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T18:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T18:43:14","slug":"man-charged-in-shooting-at-jewish-owned-toronto-restaurant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/590788\/","title":{"rendered":"Man charged in shooting at Jewish-owned Toronto restaurant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto police say a 30-year-old Brampton man has been arrested in connection with a shooting at a Jewish-owned restaurant in North York late last week, an incident that heightened fears about targeted violence in the city.<\/p>\n

The arrest comes as investigators point to a pattern of repeated attacks on the same business and broader concerns about antisemitic violence, with police emphasizing that heightened patrols played a key role in quickly identifying a suspect.<\/p>\n

Officers were originally called to the Avenue Road and Brooke Avenue area at around 1:28 a.m. on April 3 after reports of gunshots.<\/p>\n

Police say a suspect fired multiple rounds at the restaurant before fleeing the scene in a dark-coloured SUV. <\/p>\n

No injuries were reported.<\/p>\n

Surveillance video obtained by CTV News Toronto at the time appears to show a lone suspect approaching the area before opening fire from outside the business and fleeing.<\/p>\n

Jewish-owned restaurant shot at overnight in Toronto’s north end Natalie Johnson reports from the scene where a gunman opened fire at a Jewish-owned restaurant on Thursday night near Avenue Road and Lawrence Avenue West. <\/p>\n

Arrest made days after shooting<\/p>\n

In a media release<\/a> issued Wednesday, officials say investigators with the Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force, supported by the Hate Crime Unit and Counter Terrorism Security Unit, launched a probe into the incident.<\/p>\n

On April 5, officers executed a search warrant in Brampton, in the area of Bovaird Drive East and Torbram Road.<\/p>\n

As a result, 30-year-old Mohamed Mahdi, of Brampton, has been charged with multiple firearm-related offences, including discharging a restricted or prohibited firearm and possession of a loaded prohibited firearm.<\/p>\n

He was scheduled to appear in court on April 6.<\/p>\n

Police point to targeted nature<\/p>\n

Police say the business had been targeted before, with another location linked to the same owner struck by gunfire last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis an alarming incident involving the discharge of a firearm at a Jewish owned business in our city. The second time this particular owner has been targeted,\u201d said Supt. Ryan Forde.<\/p>\n

\"\"Chief Myron Demkiw Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw speaks to reporters on April 8, 2026 (TPS photo). <\/p>\n

Chief Myron Demkiw said the incident had a broader impact beyond physical damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there were no reported injuries, this kind of attack leaves a real impact on people\u2019s sense of security, and in this case, particularly within Toronto\u2019s Jewish community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The shooting also occurred during Passover, a significant holiday in the Jewish calendar.<\/p>\n

Enhanced policing credited for quick arrest<\/p>\n

Police say the suspect was identified quickly due in part to increased patrols in Jewish neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons our officers were able to identify the suspect quickly is because of our enhanced deployment in the area, both overt and covert,\u201d Demkiw said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCovert assets saw the suspect fleeing and gathered critical information that led to the arrest of the suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"F Community member Sharlene Wilder speaks to CTV News Toronto on Friday April 3, 2026 (CTV News photo). <\/p>\n

Forde added that officers were already nearby as part of those deployments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey responded immediately and were able to gather critical information, including the vehicle description and license plate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Investigators also canvassed for surveillance video and collected evidence that helped identify the suspect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a clear example of how targeted deployments proactive policing are making a difference,\u201d Forde said.<\/p>\n

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto police say a 30-year-old Brampton man has been arrested in connection with a shooting at a Jewish-owned…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194339],"tags":[712,51759,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-590788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brampton","8":"tag-apple-news","9":"tag-brampton","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}