Two Dead, Four Critically Injured in Car Ramming and Stabbing Attack Outside Manchester Synagogue; Assailant Shot Dead by Police
Outside a synagogue in Manchester, UK, a man rammed a vehicle into a crowd and carried out a stabbing attack on Thursday, leaving two people dead and four others critically injured. The attacker was also shot dead by police, who have classified the incident as a terrorist attack.
At 9:31 a.m. local time on Thursday (October 2) — which was 4:31 p.m. Singapore time the same day — Greater Manchester Police received a report stating that a car had plowed into pedestrians outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall area of northern Manchester, and that a security guard had been stabbed. Armed police rushed to the scene immediately and shot dead a man believed to be the attacker.
The incident also resulted in the deaths of two other individuals, both from Manchester’s Jewish community. Four more people sustained serious injuries and remain in hospital for treatment. Police stated that the incident does not pose an ongoing risk to the public.
Following the attack, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was attending a European leaders’ summit in Denmark, cut his trip short to return home and convened an emergency meeting of the government’s COBRA Security Committee. He said, “This incident is all the more shocking because it occurred on Yom Kippur — the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.”
At the time of the attack, many people were praying inside the synagogue and were later evacuated. A police spokesperson noted that the quick response from members of the public who reported the incident allowed police to deploy rapidly, preventing the attacker from entering the synagogue.
Starmer pledged to do “everything possible” to ensure the safety of the Jewish community and announced that additional police officers would be deployed to safeguard synagogues across the country.
UK counter-terrorism police have classified the incident as a terrorist attack. Authorities are believed to have identified the attacker, but “cannot confirm this at this stage for on-site security reasons.” Police also arrested two other people, though no further details were provided.
Online photos show the suspected attacker — a bald man with a beard, wearing dark clothing — with a white object resembling a bomb strapped to his waist. A video verified by Reuters shows police officers firing at a man inside the synagogue compound, while another man wearing a traditional Jewish head covering lies on the ground in a pool of blood. An armed police officer can be heard shouting to onlookers, “He has a bomb — move away!” After the incident, bomb disposal experts conducted an examination of the suspect’s body.
Local residents, citing witnesses, said the attacker drove his car into the synagogue’s entrance, then got out and stabbed people at random. He also attempted to break into the synagogue, but was stopped after someone blocked the entrance in time. Another witness stated that police shot the suspect after several warnings went unheeded; the suspect fell to the ground but got back up, prompting police to fire a second shot.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, there has been an upward trend in anti-Semitic incidents in the UK, and the local Jewish community has remained on high alert over the past two years.
UK King Charles III and Queen Camilla expressed deep “shock and sorrow” over the incident. Israel’s Embassy in London and the European Union also condemned the attack. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “We must continue to fight anti-Semitism in all its forms.”
|
300x180 AD