Toronto Man Charged After Rocks Thrown Through Church Windows

A Toronto police vehicle is shown parked on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto on Jan. 3, 2023. The Canadian Press/Doug Ives

A Toronto man is facing charges after rocks were hurled at a city church on three separate occasions, causing damage to the building.

A suspect threw a rock through the window of an East York church on July 24 and is accused of returning to the same church on July 31 to throw another rock through the window, The Toronto Police Service said in an Aug. 1 press release.

Officers near the church on Aug. 1 saw yet another rock being thrown through the church’s window and arrested a suspect at the scene.

Khaliq Hussain Anwar was charged with three counts of mischief relating to religious property in connection with the incidents, and appeared in court at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on Aug. 1. The police are asking anyone with information to contact them or Crime Stoppers.

The Toronto Police Service has also requested further information regarding two recent shootings at Kiva’s Bagel Bar locations. Police say an SUV arrived at a location at Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West on July 25 and gunfire shattered the front glass of the bakery.

A second shooting occurred about an hour later at another location of the same Jewish-owned bakery chain near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue West. A firearm was discharged from the vehicle and struck the bakery’s front windows. Both bakeries were closed at the time and no injuries were reported.

Toronto police released an image of a dark-coloured vehicle believed to be connected to the two shooting incidents. They are asking anyone who may have witnessed either shooting or have relevant dash-cam or security camera footage from the areas to contact the police.

The bakery shootings occurred shortly before another shooting outside the U.S. Consulate—the second such incident that has occurred in 2026—after the diplomatic mission was also targeted by gunfire in March.

Toronto police said officers heard a firearm discharged outside the consulate in the downtown core at 4:46 a.m. on July 27, and a white sedan was seen leaving the scene. No injuries were reported.

Toronto police said during a June 16 press conference that investigators had unveiled a pattern of young people being hired to commit gun crimes in the city, including recent shootings at synagogues, Jewish schools, and at the U.S. Consulate.

Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw told reporters young people were being hired to carry out the attacks via encrypted messaging apps, and were being required to film the attacks in order to receive payment.

A U.S. criminal complaint filed in May alleges that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national charged with terrorism-related offences in the United States, and others orchestrated or directed the March 10 shooting at the consulate and a shooting at a Toronto synagogue.