Vaughan Islamic community centre evacuated due to bomb threat

An Islamic community centre in Vaughan was evacuated due to an alleged bomb threat.

York Regional Police (YRP) said they responded to the community centre near Bathurst Street and Ner Israel Drive on Thursday night.

The building was evacuated, and officers conducted a search of the area. No injuries were reported.

A police spokesperson tells CityNews that Jaffari Community Centre was the building that was cleared by responding officers. In an update on Friday morning, police confirmed they were investigating a bomb threat.

The threat is still under investigation but YRP say there is no threat to public safety. Officers are no longer at the scene.

Jaffari Community Centre, also considered a mosque, is described as an Islamic multi-faceted facility that hosts religious, educational, cultural, athletic, and recreational events.

YRP responded to a potential threat to a community centre near Bathurst St. and Ner Israel Dr. in Vaughan. Police evacuated a building and checked the area. No threat was found. The property is secure. There is no safety risk. Police are in the area and it’s under investigation.

— York Regional Police (@YRP) November 17, 2023

The National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) said what being reported is just a sliver of what’s actually happening on the streets and in the community.

“We’ve had hundreds of incident reported to us at NCCM. When we speak to people, really horrific things that have happened to them, have been said to them and done to them and in many cases, they don’t want to report to police, they do not want to speak about it publicly and that’s because of fear of backlash, and fear of being re-targeted,” said Uthman Quick, Director of Communications with NCCM.

“What we saw last night was really horrible,” added Quick. “Thankfully, we haven’t heard of anyone being physically harmed by this event last night but the emotional scars, the trauma we know from these types of events, will continue”