The assailant responsible for the fatal attack outside a synagogue in Manchester, UK, has been identified as Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian origin, according to official reports. The attack occurred on Thursday during the celebration of Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.
Authorities have confirmed that Al-Shamie was not previously known to anti-terrorism units or police. The attacker used his vehicle to ram into pedestrians before stabbing a security guard outside the synagogue around 9:30 a.m. He was subsequently shot and killed by police while attempting to break into the synagogue.
Eyewitnesses at the scene reported that Al-Shamie began stabbing people as soon as he exited his vehicle. Some witnesses also claimed that the attacker appeared to be wearing a belt loaded with explosives, although no detonations occurred during the incident.
A delivery driver who witnessed the confrontation between the police and the attacker described the tense situation that ended in gunfire. The driver, identified as Gareth Tonge, told the BBC that Al-Shamie was attempting to break into the synagogue when the police arrived. After ignoring several warnings from the police, Al-Shamie was shot. He attempted to rise again, prompting the police to shoot him a second time.
In the aftermath of the attack, three additional individuals were arrested in a law enforcement sweep, as reported by Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the UK’s head of counter-terrorism policing. The suspects, two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s, are currently being held on suspicion of commission, preparation, and instigation of acts of terrorism.
Both victims of the attack were Jewish, and four others are in serious condition at local hospitals. One victim was stabbed, while the other was hit by the car as it charged towards the synagogue. The stabbing victim is believed to have been a security guard working at the synagogue.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both condemned the attack. Starmer described the incident as a manifestation of rising antisemitism in Britain, while Netanyahu called it a “barbaric attack.”