Four additional arrests were made in May in relation to two drive-by gel pellet gun attacks that had specifically targeted the Toronto Jewish community, the Toronto Police Service announced on Wednesday, several weeks after a first arrest was made.
Twenty-year-old Toronto resident Luka Chokheli, 23-year old Toronto resident Alishahin Isayev, a 16-year-old male, and a 17-year-old female were arrested on May 22 in relation to the attacks on Toronto Jews on May 7 and April 30.
All four were charged with three counts of assault with a weapon, and one count of possession of a weapon, but the female youth and Isayev were also charged with mischief interference with property.
The investigation is ongoing, and treating the incidents as hate-motivated, but two additional suspects, a male and a female, have yet to be identified.
"Based on the evidence gathered during this investigation, we allege that members of the Jewish community were deliberately targeted." Chief Superintendent Katherine Stephenson said in a press briefing.
"We know the profound effect incidents like these have on a community. Beyond the individuals directly involved, they create fear, anxiety, and uncertainty for countless others who see themselves reflected in the victims. That is why we take these investigations so seriously."
Eighteen-year-old charged with six offenses in relation to attacks
Eighteen-year-old Ruslan Novruzov was the first to be arrested in relation to the incidents, with him being charged on May 8 with four counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of possession of a weapon for dangerous purposes.
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.
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.”