CALEDONIA—The Haldimand community is rallying around one of its own after OPP Constable Jeff Smith was seriously wounded while confronting a gunman outside a Belleville synagogue on September 20, 2026.
At a news conference on Thursday, September 24, Belleville Police Service Chief Murray Rodd said that Smith was hit with shotgun fire before he could exit his vehicle while stationed outside the synagogue. Smith engaged the shooter, protecting those inside as bullets hit the exterior of the building, with two minutes and 47 seconds passing before backup arrived. A video captured the shooter saying, “You are going to die for the Jews.”
Smith has since been widely commended for his actions, which took place as members of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue were gathering for Yom Kippur services.
Smith grew up in Caledonia, attended McKinnon Park Secondary School, and played for the Caledonia Corvairs before embarking on his policing career.
“When I heard the news (of the shooting), it obviously shook me, and I’m sure shook a whole lot of people that know the family, know Jeff,” said former Corvairs coach Mark McEachern, who noted that Smith initially worked as an elementary school teacher before switching careers to join the police force.
“He was a good person first and foremost. He was a good teammate,” McEachern recalled from Smith’s time with the Corvairs in the 1990s. “He came with a smile, and he had a good sense of humour about him.”
Knowing what Smith is like, McEachern said “it didn’t surprise me at all” to learn of his actions at the synagogue.
—Haldimand Press file photo.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he wouldn’t hesitate to defend and protect people,” said McEachern. “He’s just a good dude. He cares about everybody.”
A GoFundMe fundraiser organized by Derek Kreindler on behalf of the Canadian Jewish Community has raised over $868,000 as of publication. Donations have poured in from across the country and beyond, with a goal of reaching $1 million.
Kreindler wrote, “Inside the synagogue, worshippers heard the gunfire, took cover, and sheltered together as bullets struck the building. Const. Smith confronted an extraordinarily dangerous situation while protecting a Jewish congregation assembled on the holiest day of the Jewish year.”
He continued, “In Judaism, ‘pikuach nefesh,’ the preservation of human life, is among our highest obligations. Const. Smith fulfilled that obligation not through words, but through courage and action. When members of a vulnerable community needed protection, he put himself in harm’s way.”
The fundraiser is an expression of “profound gratitude to Const. Smith and to support him and his family during what may be a long and difficult recovery.”
His wife Ashley shared an update on social media.
“My words aren’t strong or steady yet, but I knew I needed to find them. I needed to use my voice for my dear Jeff, until he is able to use his,” she wrote. “From the deepest part of my heart and soul, thank you.”
She thanked all those who have contributed to the fundraiser, who have prayed on his behalf, or sent messages.
“I am witnessing real-life miracles. And so many of them have happened through human hands,” she wrote, speaking of the many medical professionals involved in Smith’s recovery so far.
“Jeff has a very long, difficult road ahead,” she continued. “But he is not walking it alone.”
Smith is expected to undergo multiple surgeries related to serious head trauma as a result of multiple gunshot wounds.
Ashley called her husband “the best man I know. He loves his family with his whole heart. He cares deeply. He gives freely. He shows up. He is a man of integrity. He is my safest place…. And right now, he is fighting. So we will fight with him.”
