2 killed in deadly attack at crowded UK synagogue

Two people were killed and three others left in critical condition on Thursday after a car-and-knife attack outside a crowded synagogue in Manchester. Police say the suspected assailant was shot by armed officers and is believed to have died at the scene.

The incident unfolded as the Jewish community gathered to observe Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. Greater Manchester Police declared a “major incident” shortly after 9:30 a.m. when reports came in of a vehicle ramming pedestrians and a security guard being stabbed outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall.

Armed units responded swiftly, with witnesses telling the BBC they saw officers open fire on a man after repeated warnings. “They give him a couple of warnings, he didn’t listen until they opened fire,” one witness recalled. “He went down on the floor, and then he started getting back up, and then they shot him again.”

Emergency services initially reported four victims with injuries from both the car and knife attack. Hours later, police confirmed two had died and three remained in a “serious condition.” The identity of the attacker has not yet been confirmed due to what police described as “suspicious items on his person,” prompting the deployment of a bomb disposal team.

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Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack as “horrific” and said security would be reinforced at synagogues across the UK. He left a European summit in Denmark to chair an emergency meeting in London. “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” he said, pledging to “do everything to keep our Jewish community safe.”

King Charles III and Queen Camilla expressed their sorrow, saying they were “deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”
Israel’s embassy in London called the assault “abhorrent and deeply distressing,” adding: “The safety and security of Jewish communities in the United Kingdom must be guaranteed.”

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham praised the rapid response by police and local residents, urging the public “not to speculate on social media.” He acknowledged the impact on the city’s Jewish population, one of the largest in Britain with over 28,000 people, according to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.

Labour MP Graham Stringer emphasized that Manchester has long been home to both Jewish and Muslim communities. “By and large community relations are excellent between all the different ethnic groups and religious groups,” he told BBC Radio Manchester.

The Community Security Trust, a charity monitoring antisemitism, said it was working closely with police. “This appears to be an appalling attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year,” the group said.

The attack comes just days before the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7, 2023, assault on Israel, which triggered a devastating conflict in Gaza and reignited tensions worldwide. Manchester itself has endured terror before—most notably in 2017, when 22 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a concert in the city’s arena.

AFP