Listen to this article
Estimated 2 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
The Belleville, Ont., police department says Const. Jeff Smith has been released from hospital more than a month after he was shot and seriously injured in a shootout near a synagogue.
“Smith continues to make positive progress in his recovery. He has been released from hospital and is recovering well at home,” said Belleville police in a Thursday morning news release.
The officer and his colleague Const. Michael McCurdy confronted a gunman who was trying to carry out a hate attack on the Sons of Jacob Synagogue on Sept. 20. Belleville’s police chief said Smith was shot several times, including in the head.
Gunman Sean Ward died the next day.
Belleville’s police chief later said Ward “had the means, the mechanism and the motive to perpetrate a greater act. The only thing that stopped entry into the synagogue to execute the intent were the two officers.”
Smith had been stationed outside the synagogue, which had requested police protection. Sons of Jacob Synagogue has hailed Smith as a hero
In a Facebook post, Smith’s wife Ashley Smith thanked the “life-saving” and “steady, capable” hands of first responders and hospital staff, including “an angel neurosurgeon.”
The Belleville Police Service says the shooting outside a synagogue on Sunday night that left the gunman dead and an officer critically injured was a hate-motivated attack. Chief Murray Rodd said the gunman, Sean Ward, had the means to cause mass casualties.
