'Bang! Bang! Bang!': Witnesses recount confusion, gunshots during Belleville synagogue shooting

Congregants attended an evening service for Yom Kippur at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ont. when it was interrupted by gunfire on Sept. 20, 2026. Photo by Google MapsArticle content“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Norman Weddum recalled the sound of bullets hitting the stained glass at the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ont., on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for the Jewish community.

Weddum, who has been the synagogue’s president for the past eight years, attended the Sunday-night service with around 25 congregants.

When he first arrived, he said he spoke briefly to the police officer who was stationed in front of the building. He said he thanked him for being there. “We (request an officer) when we have a lot of people in the building, just for safety concerns,” he told National Post.

The choice to proactively have an officer at Sons of Jacob comes after several targeted shootings at synagogues across Canada. One person at the scene, a security guard, told Belleville publication The Intelligencer that he believed it was that officer who intercepted the suspect.

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By the time Weddum walked into the building, it was 6:45 p.m.

Congregants were ushered into the inner sanctuary of the synagogue around 7 p.m. for the prayer service to start.

“At that point, that’s when the first, ‘Bang! Bang! Bang!’ started, and we all kind of stopped in our tracks,” he said.

A handful of congregants, including Weddum, went out into the main lobby to see what had occurred. Again, they heard the same noise. “And this time it was so loud and deafening … that there was no question that was shot being fired.”

They ran back into the area where the service was being held and shut the doors.

“I yelled for everyone to get on the floor, to crouch right down,” said Weddum. The shots were still being fired and they could hear it hitting the stained glass windows that decorated the outer part of the synagogue.

The shooting stopped eventually, after what felt like hours. “We waited and waited,” said Weddum.