Brampton parish church hit by suspected pipe bomb

A suspected pipe bomb thrown through a window at 3:45 a.m. set off sprinklers and filled Brampton’s St. Jerome’s Church with smoke Tuesday, May 29.

There are early reports that one person was treated for smoke inhalation and the bomb squad was called in. Police sent a robot into the church to investigate a suspicious package. The explosive device was put in a secure container to be detonated later.

Police are also looking at a nearby fire that torched three townhouses in a subdivision under construction.

Sprinklers did their job putting out the fire in the Church, but smoke in the building prompted the fire chief to order his firefighters out of the building, according to media reports. With fire and burglar alarms ringing, a custodian was first on scene.

Archdiocese of Toronto spokesman Neil McCarthy said it was too early to assess the extent of the damage or say whether Masses and programs will have to be moved to another location.

The rectory is not physically attached to St. Jerome’s and was not affected.

The north Brampton parish was erected by Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic in 1990 under founding pastor Fr. Vid Vlasic. Sod was turned for construction of the present church in February, 1996, with construction beginning in January of 1998.

The first Mass in the new Church was celebrated by then-Auxiliary Bishop Terry Prendergast, Sept. 5, 1998 and the Church was dedicated by Cardinal Ambrozic on the Feast of All Saints, Nov. 1, 1998. St. Jerome’s serves a Catholic population of over 17,000.