Wednesday, May 6, 2026
ADVT 
National

Vancouver Police release video showing suspect in synagogue arson

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Jun, 2024 11:38 AM
  • Vancouver Police release video showing suspect in synagogue arson

Police in Vancouver have released video showing a man who is believed to have set fire to the front entrance of a synagogue last month in the hope that someone may recognize the suspect. 

The security video shows a man wearing a dark jacket, light ball cap and a medical face mask approaching the front steps of the Schara Tzedeck synagogue on Vancouver's Oak Street on May 30 with a time stamp of 9:41 p.m. 

The man is carrying a clear bottle with liquid inside, and he unscrews the cap before disappearing from the frame. 

Less than a minute later, there is a bright flash and the video shows the man walking quickly down the synagogue stairs and onto the street.

A second video shows the front entrance from a different angle as orange flames spark and then flare up as the man walks away.

The police statement says investigators are looking to speak with anyone who might recognize the suspect in the video, as well as the driver of a beige or silver minivan that was seen in the area at the time of the fire.

Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt has said people were inside the synagogue after services that same night, when they heard a "bang" outside.

But he said it was a passerby who alerted them that their building was on fire, before a member of the congregation put out the flames with his jacket.

MORE National ARTICLES

Pedestrian hit in Surrey

Pedestrian hit in Surrey
Police in Surrey say they're investigating after a pedestrian was hit on a city street. RCMP say officers responded to a call around six this morning near Scott Road and Nordel Way.

Pedestrian hit in Surrey

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector
The U.S. Department of Justice has charged two Canadians and an Iranian in a murder-for-hire plot targeting two people in Maryland. An indictment unsealed today says Naji Sharifi Zindashti, Damion Patrick John Ryan and Adam Richard Pearson conspired to kill the two unnamed people, one of whom was an Iranian defector.

Two Canadians charged in U.S. plot to kill Iranian defector

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser
British Columbia's River Forecast Centre has issued an upgraded flood warning for the Sumas River, a tributary of the Fraser River east of Vancouver, as the latest round of atmospheric rivers deluge the province's South Coast. An updated bulletin says flows in the Sumas River are not anticipated to pose a hazard for flooding into Sumas Prairie, an area hit hard by rainstorms and flooding that swamped much of southwestern B.C. in November 2021. 

B.C. River Forecast Centre issues flood warning for Sumas River, tributary of Fraser

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission
A hops farm company and its director have been ordered to pay more than $1 million over an alleged fraud that a B.C. Securities Commission panel described as "near to the most serious type of fraud possible in an investment context." A statement from the commission says Fraser Valley Hop Farms Inc. and its sole named director, Alexander William Bridges, must pay a combined $498,273, representing the amount they obtained as a result of their alleged wrongdoing.  

B.C. hops farm, director fined over $1M after alleged fraud: securities commission

Ceremony planned to honour memory of those killed in 2017 Quebec City mosque attack

Ceremony planned to honour memory of those killed in 2017 Quebec City mosque attack
A ceremony commemorating victims of the deadly 2017 attack on a Quebec City mosque is scheduled to take place Monday evening. Six Muslim men were killed and five others were seriously injured when a gunman burst into the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre shortly after evening prayers on Jan. 29, 2017.

Ceremony planned to honour memory of those killed in 2017 Quebec City mosque attack

New Zealand mountaineer is fourth person to die in B.C. heli-ski crash

New Zealand mountaineer is fourth person to die in B.C. heli-ski crash
A New Zealand mountaineering expert injured in the heli-skiing crash north of Terrace, B.C., last week has died, bringing the death toll to four. The New Zealand Mountain Guides Association says In a Facebook post that its president, Lewis Ainsworth, had been on the Northern Escape Heli-Skiing helicopter as a guide.

New Zealand mountaineer is fourth person to die in B.C. heli-ski crash