Police on 2nd October killed a man who they claimed was behind a fatal car ramming and stabbing attack that left two victims from the Jewish community dead near a synagogue in Manchester, northwest England.
Three other victims of the attack are seriously injured.
The attacker rammed a car into pedestrians before going on a six-minute stabbing rampage, British police said. Counterterrorism police later called it a “terrorism incident” and named the attacker on Thursday evening. Two of the victims, one of whom was killed, were likely shot by responding armed police on Friday, it was later reported.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared police were sent to synagogues throughout the UK in response to the attack, which occurred on Yom Kippur, the most sacred day of the Jewish year.
“Earlier today, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish faith, a despicable individual perpetrated a terrorist attack that targeted Jews because they are Jews, and targeted Britain because of our values,” Starmer stated Thursday.
What occurred?
Police said witnesses reported a car being driven into people on the pavement near the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, a south Manchester suburb.
They also described a man being stabbed.
Paramedics were on the scene at 9:41 am (08:41 GMT) and were treating members of the public.
The National Health Service (NHS) North West Ambulance Service reported in a statement that its staff had treated those at the scene and taken the seriously injured to hospital.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officers responded at 9:31 am (08:31 GMT) following a report from a member of the public “of a car being driven towards members of the public, and one man had been stabbed” near Heaton Park Shul, a synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, where individuals had come to attend Yom Kippur, the Jewish faith’s holiest day.
By 9:37 am, GMP had reported a major incident and assigned Operation Plato, the code for an instance of a “marauding terrorist attack”. One minute later, at 9:38 am, GMP firearms officers discharged shots at a man suspected to be the attacker.
Paramedics also arrived at 9:41 am (08:41 GMT) and treated four individuals for stab wounds and injuries from a collision with the suspect’s vehicle, and critically injured patients were taken to the hospital. A bomb disposal unit later arrived.
At 11:15 am (10:15 GMT), authorities released the information that two of those injured had succumbed, as had the suspect.
At 3 pm (14:00 GMT), the United Kingdom’s head of counterterrorism policing, Laurence Taylor, announced the attack as a terror incident and confirmed that two arrests had been made in connection with it.
On Friday, the GMP released a statement that two of the victims – one of the fatalities and one of the wounded in hospital – had been shot by police fire.
The Chief Constable said to the media: “One of the fatalities is believed to have had a wound consistent with a gunshot wound.
“At present, it is believed the suspect, Jihad Al Shamie, didn’t have a weapon and the only firearms discharged were those of GMP’s Authorised Firearms Officers as they attempted to stop the offender from entering the synagogue and inflicting further attacks on our Jewish people.”. It follows naturally, therefore, that pending further forensic analysis, this wound may unfortunately have been incurred as a tragic and unintended result of the desperately necessary action taken by my officers in ending this brutal assault.
We have also been informed by medics that one of the three victims being treated in hospital has also been hit by a gunshot, mercifully not life-threatening. Both victims would appear to have been huddled close together behind the synagogue door, as congregants bravely refused to let the attacker in.”
Where was the attack in Manchester?
The attack occurred at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, which is in the north Manchester suburb of Crumpsall.
Crumpsall is an outer suburb that has a population of around 18,000, as reported by Manchester City Council. Tram and bus services run into the city centre from the suburb, 5km (three miles) away.
There has been a Jewish congregation in Crumpsall since 1935. There is a large Ashkenazi Orthodox synagogue, which was built and completed in 1967.
What do we know about the victims?
Two are reported to have died in the attack, and three others are seriously injured, according to the police.
On Friday, the GMP reported that the victims are suspected to be 53-year-old Adrian Daulby and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz. Both were from Crumpsall and belonged to the Jewish community.
The police announced that identification is pending formally, and Home Office post-mortems will follow later on Friday morning.
Later on Friday, in another development, GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson reported that one of the victims murdered had wounds consistent with a gunshot wound.
Watson also said it is believed at this time that the suspect did not have a firearm in his possession, and the only shots fired were by the police.
Subject to further forensic analysis, this wound may tragically have been inflicted as a sad and unintended result of the action taken by my officers in their urgent attempt to stop this vicious assault,” Watson stated.
What do we know about the assailant?
GMP identified the man suspected of carrying out the attack as 35-year-old Jihad al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian origin, although they added that “formal identification is yet to take place”.
Officials are continuing to “work to understand the motivation for the attack”, police added.
GMP leader Sir Stephen Watson reported the suspect had been “wearing something that resembled an explosive device, a vest”, but it was later checked and found not to be usable by police.
Three others have also been detained: a man in his 30s, another man in his 30s, and a woman in her 60s. They are detained on suspicion of “commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism”, and are still in custody.
How did the British government react?
Starmer cut short a meeting with European leaders in Copenhagen, the Danish capital, to tackle the incident.
“I’m already in a position to say that further police resources are being sent into synagogues nationwide, and we will do everything we can to keep our Jewish community safe,” said Starmer.
In an X post, Starmer also wrote: “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific.”
Hamish Falconer, a member of the British parliament from Starmer’s Labour Party, wrote in an X post: “I’m horrified to hear of this incident at a synagogue I’ve been proud to visit. My thoughts are with everyone affected.”
Starmer convened an emergency meeting on Thursday afternoon in his Downing Street, London, office to debate the attack. Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley were also spotted arriving to join the meeting.
Why is the timing of the attack on Yom Kippur so important?
The attack occurred during Yom Kippur, the most holy and solemn day on the Jewish calendar, dedicated to repentance and contemplation. It is a day when Jews worldwide fast and pray for extended hours. Even individuals who do not attend synagogue on a regular basis will do so on this day.
At Heaton Park Synagogue, congregants were set to meet at 9 am for Shacharis, the morning service, and a special children’s service in the afternoon. Synagogues historically have several services during Yom Kippur.
Manchester itself has approximately 30,000 Jews, the community’s biggest congregation in the UK outside of London.
What is the situation on the ground now?
Many in the neighbourhood near the synagogue were in a state of disbelief on Thursday evening, struggling to process the attack.
“There’s everyone here,” 41-year-old Sam Martin told Al Jazeera. “Muslims, Jews, everyone. I’ve known nothing but love and kindness from our Jewish community. I’m just shocked this could happen.”
The police indicated that they “declared PLATO” after the attack. This is a British police codeword for calling an incident under investigation a “marauding terrorist attack” (MTA), one in which attackers move quickly from place to place within an area, with the intent to kill or harm as many as possible. It does not signify that the incident has been termed a terrorist attack.
The police have launched a public gateway, a Casualty Bureau, for individuals to check on their friends and family who might have been at the site. The gateway also requests that individuals who were caught up in the event and are safe report online.
Have there been any other anti-Semitic attacks in the UK?
Yes. There have been an increasing number of instances of anti-Semitism in the UK.
Community Security Trust (CST), a British Jewish welfare charity based in the UK, documented 3,528 cases of anti-Semitism in 2024, the second-highest number of cases documented by CST within a single calendar year. Nineteen of the cases documented in 2024 consisted of damage to synagogues.
The highest were 4,296 cases documented in 2023.
Since the initiation of Israel’s war against Gaza, which started after a Hamas attack on Israeli army posts and villages in the south on October 7, 2023, a rise in Islamophobic and anti-Semitic incidents has been witnessed across the world.
