A 47-year-old Jewish resident of Toronto was shot and killed in the northern part of the city in late April, police have announced.
Daniel Stopnicki hy”d, a technology lecturer and longtime Toronto resident, was struck by gunfire while walking his dog during evening hours. Toronto Police arrested Michaelo Markicevic, a 67-year-old former police officer, and charged him with second-degree murder in connection with the killing.
Police have withheld details regarding the motive, though a spokesperson indicated the shooting appeared premeditated. The circumstances surrounding the encounter between the two men remain unclear as the investigation continues.
The killing occurred amid a troubling surge in antisemitic incidents across the city. Last Thursday, police began investigating a separate assault targeting visibly Jewish residents in Toronto’s northern neighborhoods as a potential hate crime. The attacker fired from a moving vehicle using an Orbeez toy gun—a device that shoots water-filled gel pellets—striking multiple individuals and causing minor injuries.
The B’nai Brith organization documented 6,800 antisemitic incidents nationwide in 2025, the highest annual total recorded since the organization began tracking such incidents in 1982. The figure represents a 9.4 percent increase from 2024 and a 145.6 percent surge compared to 2022.
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