Woman charged with attempted arson at General hospital campus
An Ottawa woman faces seven charges, including attempting to commit arson, in connection with a gasoline spill last week at The Ottawa Hospital's General campus.
Officers were called to the hospital at around 11:15 p.m. on Nov. 9 where they found fuel spilled inside one building and messages "related to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza," according to an Ottawa police news release.
Early Wednesday morning, police arrested a 33-year-old woman.
Police said the woman had been charged with attempting to commit arson to endanger human life and attempting to commit arson to damage property.
She was also charged with possessing incendiary material for arson, disobeying a court order, breaching her probation and two counts of mischief.
Police did not release her name. She was slated to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.
'Deplorable act,' says hospital
Hospital officials have said both the gasoline and the messages were found in a clinical area at the General campus.
In a statement the day after the incident, a spokesperson called the messages antisemitic and said hospital leadership condemned the "deplorable act."
Ottawa police, however, have said on multiple occasions they do not believe the incident was motivated by hate.
The incident occurred about a week after Ottawa's police chief condemned several recent hate-motivated crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim people.
