Manchester synagogue terror attack victim died after acciden...

11.26am BST

Attacker's father expresses 'deep shock and sorrow' over synagogue killings

The father of the Manchester synagogue attacker, who killed two people and injured others yesterday morning, has said his family condemns his son’s actions.

Faraj al-Shamie, father of attacker Jihad al-Shamie, said the news had come as a “profound shock” to him and the family.

In a social media post, he wrote:

The news from Manchester regarding the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue has been a profound shock to us. The al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act, which targeted peaceful, innocent civilians.

We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.

We kindly request that all media outlets respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time and refrain from using this tragic event in any context that does not reflect the truth.

May God have mercy on the innocent victims, and we pray for the swift recovery of the injured.

11.06am BST

Victim died after being shot by armed police in response to synagogue attack

One of the victims in yesterday’s attack outside a synagogue in north Manchester died after being shot accidentally by an armed officer, police have confirmed.

Chief constable Stephen Watson, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said that the attacker Jihad al-Shamie was not in possession of a firearm and that the death was the result of “a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end”.

A second member of the public sustained non-life threatening gunshot injuries, he added.

In a statement, he said:

The Home Office pathologist has advised that he has provisionally determined, that one of the deceased victims would appear to have suffered a wound consistent with a gunshot injury.

It is currently believed that the suspect, Jihad al-Shamie, was not in possession of a firearm and the only shots fired were from GMP’s Authorised Firearms Officers as they worked to prevent the offender from entering the synagogue and causing further harm to our Jewish community.

It follows therefore, that subject to further forensic examination, this injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end.

We have also been advised by medical professionals that one of the three victims currently receiving treatment in hospital, has also suffered a gunshot wound, which is mercifully not life threatening.

Updated at 11.08am BST

10.54am BST

The new Archbishop of Canterbury said the Church of England stood with the Jewish community against antisemitism following an attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday which killed two men.

“We then, as a church, have a responsibility to be a people who stand with the Jewish community against antisemitism in all its forms,” Archbishop of Canterbury-designate Sarah Mullally said on Friday in her first speech since being appointed to the role.

10.40am BST

Keir Starmer visits scene of synagogue attack on Friday morning

Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria have visited the scene of yesterday’s fatal attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester.

The prime minister was seen this morning meeting police officers and viewing the flowers and tribute messages left on the street outside.

10.33am BST

Geoff Haliwell, 72, who lives close to Jihad al-Shamie’s home in Prestwich, said the property used to be on his window cleaning round.

Haliwell said he believed the al-Shamie family had lived at the address for around 20 years including his mother, father and brothers.

He said the father had lived there for five or six years then left the home but would visit in a car with French number plates.

He said Jihad al-Shamie would sometimes wear western clothes and other times “traditional” Syrian dress. He also said Jihad al-Shamie would use benches to work out.

He added: “I would see him at least once or twice a week, we just said ‘hello’.

“I didn’t even know his name. He was just a straightforward, ordinary lad, nothing [that] would stand out.”

10.19am BST

People have been leaving flowers outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall this morning.

Here are a few pictures of the flowers and messages that have been left:

10.00am BST

This image is believed to be of the Manchester synagogue attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, who was shot dead by armed police on Thursday morning.

It was taken from Facebook. It was uploaded on 23 October last year.

Updated at 10.10am BST

9.53am BST

Metropolitan Police urges organisers to delay or cancel Palestine Action protest

A pro-Palestine protest planned for Saturday in London should be cancelled following the terror attack in Manchester, the Metropolitan Police has insisted.

A statement from the Met published on social media site X on Friday morning said:

The horrific terrorist attack that took place in Manchester yesterday will have caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London.

Yet at a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.

By choosing to encourage mass law-breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.

We urge them to do the responsible thing and delay or cancel their plans.

Updated at 10.07am BST

9.39am BST

Neighbours of the synagogue killer said he had lived there since around 2021, and one neighbour remembered a baby also living at the address but could not recall seeing a woman living there.

One woman told PA Media:

We used to see him out in the garden working out, doing weights, press ups.

He used to change his clothes. One day he would be wearing the full gown, to the floor and the next jeans and pyjama bottoms.

Another neighbour described how armed police arrived at the house around 3.15pm on Thursday.

A man, who would only give his name as Mike, 35, said he was visiting his mother’s house and was at the window and looked up to see police arrived.

He said:

There was a whole load of armed police coming up the street, they were all in black, they were all in vans and a big marked police car blocked the street.

They went to the house and started screaming, ‘Armed police! Come out!’ They had a chain saw. They left after about an hour.

Mike said he did not see anyone taken away and did not personally know Al-Shamie.

9.34am BST

Armed counter-terror officer swooped on the attacker’s semi-detached property shortly before 4.30pm yesterday, around seven hours after the attack at a synagogue about two miles away.

Footage shared by neighbours shows heavily armed officers in military fatigues preparing to raid the house with a chainsaw and a police dog. One officer carried two bulletproof shields.

“They just came up the street shouting and screaming,” said one neighbour, Mike, who only wanted to give his first name. “They shouted ‘Get down’ … they were there for ages.”

Another neighbour, Paul Wright, 60, said he feared an anti-Jewish attack was imminent given the raised tensions over the Gaza conflict.

“It doesn’t surprise me. I suppose if you think you’re mandated by God to do that it’s a great force multiplier,” he said.

9.28am BST

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has said Thursday was a “horrific day” for the Jewish community in Britain, Britain at large, and the Jewish community throughout the world.

“It’s a shocking reminder of what we’ve been alerting on for quite some time, that this heatwave of antisemitism and anti-Jewish feelings all over the world at the end reaches bloodshed,” he told LBC.

The Israeli president visited the UK last month and held what he described as a “tough” set of exchanges over humanitarian aid in Gaza with Keir Starmer in Downing Street. There were street protests during his visit demanding that he be arrested as a war criminal.

This morning, Herzog said what happened at the synagogue in Crumpsall was a “true horror” and said “very strong steps” are required in pre-empting “this horrific wave of terror and antisemitism”.

9.19am BST

Residents in Langley Crescent said Jihad al-Shamie had lived there since around 2021, and one neighbour remembered a baby also living at the address but could not recall seeing a woman living there.

Another neighbour described how armed police arrived at the house around 3.15pm on Thursday.

Press Association said the man, who would only give his name as Mike, 35, said he was visiting his mother’s house and was at the window and looked up to see police arrive. He said:

There was a whole load of armed police coming up the street, they were all in black, they were all in vans and a big marked police car blocked the street.

They went to the house and started screaming, ‘Armed police! Come out!’ They had a chainsaw. They left after about an hour.”

Mike said he did not see anyone taken away and did not personally know Al-Shamie.

8.56am BST

Flags in the House of Commons have been lowered for the victims of the attack.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, agreed for the flags to be lowered until 8pm on Friday.

8.49am BST

Here are some of the latest images from Langley Crescent, the street where, according to PA Media, police believe the attacker lived.

Updated at 8.51am BST

8.36am BST

Yesterday, police named the attacker as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent.

Asked about his name, on LBC, Mahmood says:

I was very surprised to discover that name myself. Actually, as a Muslim, I’ve never heard someone being called Jihad, but it is the name that he was born with - that has always been his name.

PA Media reports that a police officer is standing guard restricting entrance to Langley Crescent, where Al-Shamie is believed to have lived in the three-bed end-terrace council property.

Dozens of reporters are also camped in the street outside as more police arrive in a van at the property in Prestwich, a couple of miles from the synagogue in Crumpsall.

Updated at 8.41am BST

8.28am BST

We’ve got a bit more from the chief rabbi, who said so many people in the Jewish community “and well beyond it” wonder why marches in support of Palestine Action are allowed to take place.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme:

Some of them contain outright antisemitism, outright support for Hamas. Not every single person, however there is so much of this, which certainly is dangerous to many within our society.

You cannot separate the words on our streets, the actions of people in this way, and what inevitably results, which was yesterday’s terrorist attack.

The two are directly linked and therefore we call on the government yet again, we’ve been doing so continuously, and yet again we say get a grip on these demonstrations, they are dangerous.

8.23am BST

Chief rabbi criticises 'unrelenting wave of hatred against Jews'

Chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said this is a “very dark time” ahead of visiting Manchester, as he referred to an “unrelenting wave of hatred against Jews”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said:

Right now, our hearts are shattered. What transpired yesterday was an awful blow to us, something which actually we were fearing might happen because of the build up to this action.

I’m going to be arriving in Manchester early this morning, together with my wife, in order to be with a grieving community, and this is a very dark time, not just for Jews of Britain but for all of our society because this wasn’t merely an attack against Jews, it was an attack against the values of our society.

The chief rabbi added:

We have witnessed an unrelenting wave of hatred against Jews being expressed on our streets, on campuses, right across social media and some of the media.

And in addition to that, when there is the unjustified demonisation of Israel, that feeds directly into an anti-Jewish sentiment within the tone of Britain, and that then encourages extremism.

Our government needs to be mindful of that.

8.19am BST

As my colleague Chris Osuh has reported, feelings of safety in the UK’s Jewish community have declined sharply in the last couple of years, according to the largest survey of British Jews since 7 October 2023.

Speaking to LBC, the home secretary says antisemitism has been “rising” in the UK.

Asked about comments made by Israel foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar that the UK government is failing to curb “rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement in Britain”, she said:

Myself and the prime minister both acknowledge that antisemitism in our country has been rising.

It is completely unacceptable, and we both condemn it utterly. We will not stand for it.

We have strong laws in our country against incitement to racial hatred.

8.12am BST

Too early to say if terrorist cell behind the attack, home secretary says

Mahmood’s next stop is BBC Breakfast. She is asked if a terrorist cell is behind the attack.

It’s too early to say that yet. Arrests have been made and the police investigation is continuing at pace.

We will, of course, provide more information as that comes in from the police, but I think it’s important we don’t get ahead of what we know as the basic facts of what has happened.

8.08am BST

Pro-Palestine marches after Manchester attack 'un-British', says Mahmood

Next on Sky news, Mahmood is asked about the pro-Palestine marches that took place late on Thursday. She said:

I was very disappointed to see those protests go ahead last night.

I think that behaviour is fundamentally un-British. I think it’s dishonourable.

I would have wanted those individuals to just take a step back.

The issues that are driving those protests have been going on now for some time; they don’t look like they’re going to come to an end any day soon.

They could have stepped back and just given a community that has suffered deep loss just a day or two to process what has happened and to carry on with the grieving process.

Updated at 8.55am BST

8.05am BST

Earlier on her morning media round, the home secretary said the attacker was not known to police. She’s faced a similar line of questioning on Sky News, where she was asked whether he had been referred to the anti-terror Prevent programme.

As you would expect considering he was not known to police, she says he had not.

8.01am BST

Home secretary denies the recognition of Palestine has emboldened antisemites

Next up for the home secretary is Times Radio, on which she denied recognising Palestine had emboldened those who are antisemitic.

Mahmood said:

The only person responsible for this devastating attack on our Jewish community is the attacker himself.

The police have made three additional arrests, and it’s important that they are allowed to continue with their investigations and our process of justice is allowed to take its course. That is separate to what is happening in the Middle East.

The work of this government since the day we were elected has been to put our shoulder to the wheel in the diplomatic efforts in difficult and delicate conversations that are designed to try and bring an end to that devastating war.

Far too many lives have been lost. We want to see a secure and safe state of Israel alongside a state of Palestine.

7.54am BST

Home secretary urges people to 'step back from protesting for at least a few days'

The home secretary has urged pro-Palestine protesters not to carry out demonstrations in the wake of the terror attack in Greater Manchester.

Speaking on GB News, Mahmood said:

As far as I am concerned, I would have wanted to see people in this country step back from protesting for at least a few days, just to give the Jewish community here a chance to process what has happened and to begin the grieving process as well.

I am very disappointed that some of the organisers haven’t heeded the call to step back.

I would still call on people to show some love and some solidarity to the families of those who have been murdered and to our Jewish community.

Updated at 8.20am BST

7.52am BST

Attacker was not known to police, home secretary says

The man who carried out the attack in Greater Manchester was not known to the police, the home secretary has confirmed.

Speaking on GB News as part of her morning media round, Shabana Mahmood said:

In terms of the attacker, this individual was not known to the security services.

He has obviously been shot dead at the scene, but the police investigations will now continue at pace.

She thanked members of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall and the police, saying their actions helped save lives.

Updated at 7.55am BST

7.51am BST

Six minutes of terror: how Manchester synagogue attack unfolded

Worshippers had arrived early for a special morning service at Heaton Park shul in north Manchester. It was Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and rabbi Daniel Walker was leading prayers in his long white robes. By 9.31am, they were stained with blood.

Here, our North of England editor Josh Halliday explains how the attack unfolded:

7.37am BST

Analysis: MI5 and counter-terror police on heightened alert

MI5 and counter-terrorism police will operate at a heightened state of alert in the coming weeks, reflecting concern that the Manchester synagogue attack may be followed by others during the period around the second anniversary of the 7 October attack by Hamas on Israel.

Policing at synagogues across the country is to be increased. The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, promised “high visibility” patrols in and outside Jewish places of worship to reassure communities and to deter any further threats, while police forces elsewhere in the UK made similar commitments.

Investigations into the attack, which killed two and seriously injured four others, remain at an early stage. The central theory is that the killer, who was shot dead by police, had an Islamist motivation. There is no information in the public domain about whether he may have been radicalised by the continued Israeli military campaign and deaths of Palestinians in Gaza.

The attack, at about 9.30am at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, was not sophisticated.

There were concerns the attacker was carrying an explosive and appeared to have a vest and items strapped to his waist, but the devices were fakes. Victims at the synagogue, who were marking the last day of Yom Kippur, were stabbed with a knife.

A key line of inquiry for investigators is whether the attacker acted alone, though there is not thought to be any ongoing threat to the public.

Plots directed from overseas, once the norm in the era of al-Qaida, have become rare and individuals are more usually radicalised by following the news or gaining information online.

Investigators also acknowledged that the two-year Israel-Gaza war has changed the threat environment.

Two years ago, Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, said: “There clearly is the possibility that profound events in the Middle East will either generate more volume of UK threat, and/or change its shape in terms of what is being targeted, in terms of how people are taking inspiration.”

Manchester synagogue attack victims named

The two men killed in Thursday’s attack on a synagogue in Manchester have been named as 53-year-old Adrian Daulby and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz, police have said.

Greater Manchester police said formal identification is yet to take place but their families have been informed and family liaison officers are in contact.

The men were killed when an attacker used a car to ram into the grounds of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, then stabbed worshippers in a six-minute rampage that only ended when armed officers shot at him twice.

Three others were seriously injured in the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Police named the attacker on Thursday night as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent. Greater Manchester police revealed that three other people – two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s – had been arrested “on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism”.

Postmortem examinations of the victims – both of whom are from Crumpsall – will take place later on Friday.

We’ll bring you the latest developments on this story as we get them.