Rabbi Says Montreal Shooting Victim Chose to Stay and Help Others

Rabbi Mendel Raskin described, in an interview with Bnei Titelbaum on Kan Moreshet, a rare shooting incident that took place yesterday in Montreal and killed Michel Mizrahi. The attack unfolded near a supermarket, a kosher restaurant and a Chabad house, in an area that is also home to a Jewish community. The motive is still unclear. One police officer was killed, another was seriously wounded, and the shooter, whose name was not released, was shot dead.

According to Raskin, the suspect had come to the city from Alberta. During the shooting, the neighborhood was sealed off, residents were told to stay inside, and major roads were blocked. Mizrahi, who was from Israel and part of the local community, was in the area when the shooting began. “He could have run like others who heard the shots, but he chose to stay and help,” Raskin said.

Raskin said the information received so far indicates that in his final minutes, Mizrahi managed to save his wife and their infant daughter. He added that the current understanding is that Mizrahi was killed by mistake after a female officer at the scene misidentified him as one of the suspects. While the first reaction in the community was fear of an antisemitic attack, Raskin said it does not now appear to have been motivated by antisemitism, though more details may emerge.

He said Montreal is generally a quiet city and that the incident shocked the entire community. He does not expect major changes in synagogue or Chabad activity, but said the emotions are painful. Mizrahi is to be buried in Israel, where his two daughters and some of his family live. Raskin said outside observers have also shown strong interest in the case and in Mizrahi’s story, adding, “It is important that people know his story, a man who acted out of a desire to save others in the most difficult moments.”