Police in Toronto have arrested an 18-year-old in connection with two hate-motivated assaults targeting Jewish community members in predominantly Jewish neighborhoods of the city.

Ruslan Novruzov, of the Ontario city of Vaughan, was arrested and charged with “four counts of assault with a weapon” and “two counts of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose” for allegedly shooting people with gel pellets from an imitation firearm in two separate incidents.

Authorities said the first incident occurred on April 30, when three Jewish individuals were shot with gel pellets from a moving SUV, suffering minor injuries.

In a similar incident reported to Toronto Police that same night, three Jewish individuals standing outside of Congregation Chasidei Bobov were shot with gel pellets. One victim sustained minor injuries.

According to an investigation led by the Counter Terrorism Security Unit, the alleged incidents are “suspected hate-motivated offenses.”

“We recognize that Jewish residents have been living with a heightened sense of fear due to repeated incidents targeting their community, and this only adds to that, which is unacceptable,” said acting Deputy Chief Joe Matthews. “While the weapons used were imitation firearms, the impacts are very real. These are criminal acts that we allege were meant to intimidate and cause fear.”

Novruzov was scheduled to appear in court at the Toronto Regional Bail Centre on May 8.

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