Two Jewish people were killed and at least four other people were injured in Manchester, England, on Oct. 2 in what authorities said was a “terrorist incident” outside a synagogue on Yom Kippur.
The attack happened at about 9:30 a.m. local time, authorities said, when a man drove a vehicle directly at pedestrians outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Crumpsall, north Manchester, and then began attacking people with a knife.
A suspected attacker was shot and killed by responding police, authorities later confirmed.
In addition to the two victims killed, four people are being treated in hospitals with a range of serious injuries, police said.
Authorities named the suspected attacker as 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, a British citizen, according to a release from the UK’s Counter Terrorism Policing office. An investigation into the potential motives for the attack is in progress, the release said.
Two other men and one woman were arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism, police said. Those three people have not yet been publicly identified.
Police also confirmed that a “suspicious device” worn by the attacker was “deemed not to be viable.” Earlier in the day, police said the suspect was wearing a vest that looked like an explosive device, and a bomb disposal unit was called in. In video shared on social media and confirmed by Reuters, an armed police officer can be heard yelling at bystanders, “He has a bomb, go away!”
The attack comes as Jewish people observe the holiday of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish faith, which began the evening of Oct. 1 and ends the evening of Oct. 2. There was “a large number” of people worshipping at the synagogue at the time of the attack. They have since been evacuated, police said.
Manchester police said they received a report from a witness who saw “a car being driven toward members of the public, and one man had been stabbed.” Paramedics treated people on the scene for injuries from both the vehicle and stabbing, police said.
The witness’s immediate report to law enforcement allowed police to prevent the suspect from entering the synagogue, police said.
“Members of the public are asked to avoid the area while the police continue to deal with the incident,” the Greater Manchester Police said.
Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told the BBC that the immediate danger to the public appears to be over, “and Greater Manchester Police have dealt with it very quickly.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country of Israel is grieving after the “barbaric terror attack” at the Jewish synagogue in England.
“Our hearts are with the families of the murdered, and we pray for the swift recovery of the wounded. As I warned at the UN: weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism. Only strength and unity can defeat it,” he said in a release.
Officials decried the attack at a synagogue on the holiest holiday of the Jewish faith.
“I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall. The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” said United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders.”
Starmer said additional police would be deployed to synagogues throughout the country in the wake of the incident.
King Charles said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” to learn of the attack, “especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”
There were 1,521 reports of antisemitic incidents in Britain in the first half of 2025, according to the Community Security Trust, a London-based Jewish security organization. That figure represents the second-highest number of anti-Jewish hate incidents in Britain recorded by the group in the first half of any year it has tracked them. The highest in any six-month period – 2,019 antisemitic incidents – was in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel.
CST defines an antisemitic incident as any act aimed at Jewish people, organizations, or property where there is evidence that the victim, organization, or property was targeted because they were or were believed to be Jewish. Those incidents can take the forms of physical attacks, verbal or written abuse and threats, or antisemitic graffiti or posters.
About 30,000 Jewish people live in Manchester, according to The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a news and analysis publication that’s focused on issues of Jewish interest and concern.
London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan said the Metropolitan Police would also be “stepping up high visibility policing in and around synagogues” because of the attack. And Emily Spurrell, the chair of Britain’s Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, said in a statement that police across the country were deploying more security resources to synagogues to “reassure Jewish communities.”
Contributing: Reuters