A man who launched a car-ramming and stabbing attack on a British synagogue on Yom Kippur may have been inspired by Islamist extremism, police said on Friday, as emotions ran high after the atrocity.
Two people were killed and three people were seriously wounded in Thursday’s attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, northwest England, which has heightened fears among Britain’s Jewish community and seen security boosted at synagogues across the country.
But police said one of the dead may have been inadvertently shot by armed officers. One of the wounded was also shot in the emergency response.
The suspect, Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, a UK citizen of Syrian descent who was wearing a fake explosives vest, was also killed by police.
In a statement on Friday evening, Greater Manchester Police head of counter-terrorism policing Laurence Taylor said Shamie did not appear to have been on their radar but had been arrested and bailed previously on suspicion of rape.
“At this stage, we believe Al-Shamie may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology,” he added.
“Establishing the full circumstances of the attack is likely to take some time.”
Six people — three men and three women — have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism-linked offences, police said.
Thursday’s attack was one of the worst antisemitic attacks to happen in Europe since the October 7, 2023 assault on Israel led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which sparked the war in Gaza.
That conflict has inflamed passions in Britain, with frequent pro-Palestinian rallies in cities criticised by some for stoking antisemitism and fear in Jewish communities.
The police admission that their officers shot two came as Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was booed at a vigil for the victims — Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66.
People could be heard chanting “shame on you” as Lammy was introduced.
“This was a dreadful attack, a terrorist attack to inflict fear, attacking Jews because they are Jews,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told a group of emergency responders in the city in northwest England.
GMP Chief Constable Stephen Watson said earlier that an interior ministry pathologist had “provisionally determined that one of the deceased victims would appear to have suffered a wound consistent with a gunshot injury”.
Noting the attacker was not believed to have had a gun, and that “the only shots fired were from… authorised firearms officers”, Watson said the injury “may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence” of officers responding to the attack.
He added that the condition of the victim who was wounded by gunshot was not life-threatening.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) watchdog said it is investigating “a fatal police shooting” to establish what had happened.
Watson said both gunshot victims “were close together behind the synagogue door, as worshippers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining entry”.
The targeted synagogue’s leaders said Friday “it is hard to find the words to convey the depth of our community’s grief”.
Their statement added “the greatest tribute” to the victims “would be for communities right across the country to come together in peace and solidarity, to challenge the evil of antisemitism”.
Daulby’s family described him as a “hero” whose courage “prevented the attacker from gaining access to the premises”.
Manchester United football club was to hold a minute’s silence in honour of the victims at a game on Saturday.
A “global movement for Gaza UK” protest went ahead in London late Thursday, with police making 40 arrests.
London’s Metropolitan Police requested organisers delay another planned demonstration backing the banned Palestine Action group on Saturday, but have so far been rebuffed.
Interior minister Shabana Mahmood said Thursday’s rallies were “dishonourable” and criticised the weekend plans.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Friday echoed criticism of the UK government, saying on LBC radio it appeared to tolerate “this very brutal, aggressive and violent behaviour on the streets”.
“For so long we have witnessed an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on our streets, on campuses, on social media and elsewhere,” he said on X.
AFP
AFP
