A police cruiser remained outside the London Jewish Community Centre on Huron Street Tuesday after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of the building and a nearby apartment. (MORRIS LAMONT, The London Free Press)
A day after police were dispatched to protect Islamic sites across the London, a bomb threat forced the evacuation of a Jewish centre and nearby apartment building Tuesday.
The threat at the London Jewish Community Centre on Huron Street comes amid heightened tensions at places of worship across Canada following a shooting rampage at a Quebec City mosque that left six people dead and 19 others injured Sunday.
Coun. Jared Zaifman, whose mother works at the community centre, denounced the bomb threat, urging Londoners to stand united and not be afraid.
Describing the community centre as a second home, Zaifman blasted the caller’s attempt to sow fear and division.
“It’s very frustrating because it can stir up so much fear in a community,” said Zaifman, the grandson of two Holocaust survivors.
Esther Marcus, executive director of the London Jewish Federation, which runs the facility, said someone called the community centre at 10:15 a.m., saying a bomb would go off in one hour.
The community centre, located at Huron and Adelaide streets, runs a range of religious and educational programs, including two preschools and a Hebrew day school.
All of the children and staff were taken to predetermined safe location, Marcus said, adding emergency responders helped evacuate a nearby apartment building. Residents boarded city buses to escape the cold while police searched the area.
Const. Sandasha Bough said employees were allowed back inside the community centre after nothing suspicious was found.
“Police searched both inside and outside the building,” said Bough. “It’s still an ongoing investigation.”
Marcus said no other Jewish facilities in the city — London has four synagogues — received similar threats.
“We wish to commend the emergency first responders of London for their immediate, professional and courteous action. We thank the staff of the JCC and schools who followed protocol and ensured everyone’s safety,” Marcus said in an email.
The bomb scare comes after London police fanned out to city mosques, Islamic schools and a Muslim resource centre Monday in response to the deadly shooting at the Centre Cultural Islamique de Quebec mosque.
Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27-year-old Laval University student, is charged with six counts murder and five counts of attempted murder.
The massacre prompted mosque officials to take extra security precautions at the London Muslim Mosque, where hundreds of people gathered Monday to hold a rally denouncing the Quebec City shooting and celebrate multi-faith acceptance.
Investigators are appealing for anyone with information about Tuesday’s bomb threat to contact police.
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Source: Bomb threat at Jewish community centre | The London Free Press
