Manchester Synagogue Attack Kills Two; Police Shot Victims

Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old Syrian-born British national, rammed his car into worshippers and stabbed people outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester on Yom Kippur, killing two and injuring others before armed officers shot him dead. Greater Manchester Police say he was out on bail and under investigation for an alleged rape earlier this year and had prior non-terror criminal convictions, but was not previously known to counterterrorism agencies. Police said the assailant was wearing a fake explosive belt and that one of the people killed and another injured were accidentally shot by officers trying to stop him entering the synagogue. Investigators are probing whether Al-Shamie was behind a 2012 death threat to former Conservative MP John Howell, and reports say the attacker’s father praised Hamas’s October 7 attacks; inquiries into motive and the alleged rape remain ongoing. The attack has heightened fear within Britain’s Jewish community, prompted street protests and heated exchanges at vigils, and drawn political criticism.