Toronto police determining if bomb threat was hate crime

Days after a bomb threat forced the evacuation of a Jewish community centre in downtown Toronto, police are still trying to determine if it was a hate crime.

The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre received a bomb threat last Tuesday afternoon, which led to a police investigation.

Bomb teams spent two hours searching the premises before declaring it was safe.

Toronto police Det. Barry White told CBC News in a telephone interview on Sunday that the centre provided information to investigators that led them to a male suspect.

White said police were able to trace messages sent by an individual from a computer with a specific IP address.

After obtaining a warrant, investigators searched the home where the suspect lives with his parents and they seized his computers.

"During that warrant, he ... came home and this is actually how he came into our custody," White said.

The 36-year-old accused has since been charged with threatening death and a mischief charge, but the investigation continues into whether the bomb threat was a hate-motivated crime.

"Whether it was hate-motivated or whether it gets labelled as an actual hate crime is what we're still doing with [the investigation] right now," said White, noting that investigators are still consulting with the police intelligence unit and the Crown.