Further arrests in two drive-by gel pellet gun attacks are set to be announced on Wednesday, according to the Toronto Police Service.
Eighteen-year-old Ruslan Novruzov was charged on May 8 with four counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes, in relation to the attacks on Toronto Jews on May 7 and April 30.
Novruzov had allegedly fired a gel pellet gun at visibly Jewish people standing outside the Congregation Chasidei Bobov synagogue on May 7, hitting one person and inflicting minor injuries.
The incident was preceded a week before by an assault in which three identifiable Jewish residents were walking and were shot at with a gel pellet gun, inflicting minor injuries. The suspect, who was inside the vehicle at the time that he discharged the imitation firearm, drove off soon after.
Information from Jewish security organizations enabled arrest
The police made appeals to the public in both cases, and according to the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto and TPS, information provided by the Jewish Security Network and Shomrim Toronto enabled law enforcement to make a quick arrest.
TPS searched Novruzov’s residence and vehicle on May 8, seizing two “gel-blaster imitation firearms.” Both incidents were being investigated as hate-motivated offenses.