Belleville gunman spouted COVID-19 conspiracies while in army, say sources

The gunman accused of opening fire at police outside an Ontario synagogue left the army after expressing conspiracy theories about COVID-19, according to military sources.

A member of the Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry when the pandemic hit, Sean Ward was discharged for refusing to be vaccinated, they told Global News.

Speaking on the condition they would not be identified, the sources said the former infantry soldier had voiced a wide range of falsehoods about the coronavirus.

One of the sources said that some of the conspiracies he spouted were antisemitic, blaming Jews for COVID-19 — a meme spread by extremists during the pandemic.

The 29-year-old was armed with a shotgun when he arrived near the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, Ont. at about 7 p.m. on Sunday, according to police .

Due to security concerns, an unmarked police vehicle was parked nearby, while worshippers were inside observing Yom Kippur, the holiest evening of the Jewish faith.

Wounded during an exchange of fire with police, Ward died in hospital on Monday night. Police have not said whether they suspect he was targeting the synagogue.

One of the police officers suffered gunshot wounds and remains in hospital. Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said police had prevented a “massacre in the making.”

Belleville Police were only assigned to the synagogue because congregants had reported a suspicious vehicle parked outside a week earlier, Global News has learned.

The Canadian Armed Forces said Ward joined the army in July 2017. He was a corporal when he was released in June 2022, without ever having deployed overseas.

A military spokesperson would not comment on the allegations he adhered to pandemic-related conspiracies, saying the circumstances of his release were protected by the Privacy Act.

Two national Jewish organizations said in a statement they were “profoundly grateful” to the wounded officer but that synagogues should not require armed police outside their doors.

“Canadians cannot accept a future, as now exists in Europe, in which synagogues and Jewish schools can only operate safely behind permanent armed police and soldiers with machine guns,” the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and Jewish Federations of Canada said.

“With Parliament returning this week, governments at every level must turn their attention to the domestic situation and the growing threat of extremist violence here in Canada.”