2 dead as police shoot man linked to deadly synagogue attack
United Kingdom police say they believe they shot the suspect of an attack on a synagogue in the north of Manchester that left two people dead, which is being treated as a “terrorist” attack.
Greater Manchester Police said in a series of posts on X that they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9.30am (08:30 GMT) by a member of the public, who said he had witnessed a car being rammed into members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.
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Police confirmed that two people were killed in the attack and a third person suspected to be the offender who was shot by police was also believed to have died.
They could not confirm if the suspect was dead “due to safety issues surround suspicious items on his person”. A bomb disposal unit has been called and is now at the scene.
Police said that shots were fired by firearms officers at 9.38am. “One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” said one post. By 9.41am, paramedics had arrived at the scene, tending to four members of the public with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds, it said.
Police said on X they had “declared Plato” – the national codeword used by emergency services when responding to what they describe as a “marauding terror attack”.
The Israeli embassy in London condemned the attack as “abhorrent and deeply distressing” in a social media post.
After the incident, a UK official told news agency AFP that Prime Minister Keir Starmer would depart early from a summit of the European Political Community in Copenhagen.
Speaking before his flight home, the prime minister said that additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the UK.
Al Jazeera understands the Prime Minister will be attending a Cobra meeting – an emergency gathering of senior government officials convened in national emergencies.
“That suggests that Keir Starmer and the UK government believed this to be an incident of significant threat, a terrorist incident or something along those lines, something that threatens the fabric of UK life and UK society, said Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from London.
“It appears that the British government is taking this attack pretty seriously,” he said.
Earlier, Starmer said on X: “I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall … The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific.
“My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders.”
King Charles said he was “deeply shocked” and “saddened” by the attack.
Attack on holiest day in Jewish calendar
Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester area, said that the offender was believed to be deceased, although the information was not yet confirmed.
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, he said that, as a result, a “degree of reassurance can be given that it’s not a developing, an ongoing, incident.”
Video shared on social media appeared to show police officers pointing guns at someone lying on the ground outside the front of the synagogue. The armed officers shouted at onlookers to “get back” and “move on”.
The video showed the person on the ground starting to get up before the sound of a gunshot. The person then fell to the ground. Another person was shown lying motionless on the ground outside the synagogue gates with blood near their head, according to UK news agency PA.
Police officers dressed in black combat fatigues and carrying machineguns could be seen inside the cordon outside the synagogue. The area was swamped by dozens of police vehicles, along with fire and ambulance crews, while the force helicopter hovered overhead, said PA.
The reported stabbings come as members of the Jewish community observe Yom Kippur, which is considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and is a time when synagogues are usually particularly busy.
Dave Rich, of the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, said the day is similar to Christmas Day for Christians, but is a day of solemnity and fasting rather than celebration.
“Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year,” he said.
