Regina police respond to national bomb threats against Jewish organizations

B'nai Brith Canada says more than 100 Jewish institutions received an identical email at 5 a.m. ET threatening explosions.

Jewish organizations across Canada, including in Regina, were on high alert after a bomb threat was sent out this morning.

B’nai Brith Canada says more than 100 Jewish institutions received an identical email at 5 a.m. ET threatening explosions.

The email sent to organizations states: “We placed many explosives inside your building. They are placed in black backpacks.”

Police forces in Toronto and Ottawa determined the situation to be “low risk” after extensive searches were conducted at hospitals included in the threat.

Regina police were also involved in the search at the Beth Jacob Synagogue. Deputy police chief Lorilee Davies says nothing suspicious was found during their search.

“Our officers did a sweep of the building to ensure that it was safe,” Davies said. “There wasn’t anything that struck our officers as being suspicious in terms of something that would be an explosive.”

Regina’s Beth Jacob Synagogue executive director, who Global News’ agreed to not publish their name for safety concerns says from the beginning it felt like some sort of prank.

“Because the email was sent to synagogues across Canada, the email address itself and some of the wording in the email all kind of gave us the feeling it wasn’t a real bomb threat but a prank,” he said.