Manchester synagogue victim died after being shot by police, as attacker’s father expresses ‘sorrow’ at killings – latest

John Swinney has expressed his sympathy to the Jewish community following the terrorist attack in Manchester, with flags at Scottish government buildings flying at half-mast.

The first minister has written privately to community leaders and he visited the Edinburgh Hebrew Community on Thursday evening.

Speaking on Friday, Swinney said his government will “do everything necessary” to ensure the continued safety of the Jewish community in Scotland. He said:

The horror of the violence inflicted upon the Jewish community with the Heaton Park attack is utterly unimaginable. I cannot stress enough my sympathy with those families and their friends who have lost their loved ones, and my solidarity with the Jewish community in Scotland and across the whole of the United Kingdom.

“I can assure our Jewish community that we will do everything necessary to ensure their continued safety, and additional security and policing is in place around synagogues and Jewish community venues. When society is faced with unimaginable horror we must take solace in the things that unite us. We must stand firm against those that seek to divide us. Now more than ever, division and all form of hatred – especially evil antisemitism – must be rejected, and I urge communities across Scotland to stand firm against those that seek to divide our country.

“Scotland’s diversity and our inclusive outlook is one of our greatest strengths. It is a precious commodity which we must all work to cherish and maintain, especially at moments of strain.”

Guardian photographer Christopher Thomond has been in Manchester today, capturing scenes from the aftermath of the attack.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it is carrying out an investigation to establish the facts of what happened at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall on Thursday.

Emily Barry, IOPC director of engagement, said:

Our thoughts remain with the victims and their families, as well as all those affected by yesterday’s horrific events.

As is standard when there has been a fatal police shooting, we are carrying out an independent investigation to establish the facts of what happened, and our findings will be shared with the coroner in due course.

IOPC investigators attended the police post-incident procedures and were at the scene last night gathering evidence. We will be present at the post-mortems today to provide independent oversight.

It is important in these circumstances that the police are able to continue their vital work, and there are established protocols we follow to ensure our role does not hinder their ability to conduct inquiries as part of their own investigations.

We will share further information when we are in a position to do so.

Manchester United will hold a minute’s silence and the players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect after the terrorist attack at a synagogue in the city on Thursday.

However, there are no plans for a minute’s silence to be held across the board before this weekend’s Premier League and English Football League fixtures.

Individual clubs, such as Manchester United, are able to organise tributes if they wish to do so but there has been no directive from the leagues.

The Football Association is yet to clarify whether there will be a tribute before England’s men play Wales in a friendly at Wembley next Thursday.

Social media “has a lot to answer for” in the “stoking of hatred” and fear, senior Masorti Judaism rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg has said in the wake of the Crumpsall synagogue terror attack.

He told BBC News:

We have for a long time... been accustomed to needing security at all our venues and all our events. It actually reflects a tragic situation: the presence of antisemitism in so many ways in our society, and we deeply regret that.

The rabbi added:

Judaism is a deeply, deeply resilient religion, and I want to say they also appreciated, when I came home from the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the many, many messages from Christian and particularly Muslim colleagues of solidarity, because this is not just attack against us - it’s an attack against all faiths and against the very coherence and tolerance of our society.

Asked how “voices of calm can make themselves heard above voices of hatred”, Wittenberg said:

The stoking of hatred and the stoking of fear is really profoundly, profoundly wrong, and social media has a lot to answer for. And so do people who don’t appreciate the vulnerability that others feel and how much we need to be humanity together.

Across our faiths and across our society we need to be seen more together, we need to partner more together: the Jewish, the Muslim, the Christian community and other faiths, civil society as well.

The statements by government are reassuring but they need to be backed up with actions to protect the security and safety over all of us.

Here is a graphic which shows the exact location of the fatal terror attack in Crumpsall, north Manchester, yesterday:

The prime minister was shown around Greater Manchester Police headquarters by chief constable Stephen Watson.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council leader Bev Craig joined Keir Starmer and the police chief for a briefing before they met emergency service workers who responded to the attack.

Visiting the silver command offices where commanders from the three emergency services operated from on Thursday, Starmer said the work they had done was “exemplary”.

Among the first responders he met were two police sniffer dogs, Jimmy and Champ.

The prime minister visited the silver command base in police headquarters before meeting responders from the police, ambulance and fire service.

He praised “the degree of professionalism and speed” that workers showed on Thursday.

Starmer told them:

I just wanted to come and say to you, thank you so much for what you did yesterday, what you are continuing to do, because here you are back at work the next day.

He added:

The confidence that you’ve given people across not just Greater Manchester... but across the whole country, is really, really important to us. So thank you very much.

Speaking at Greater Manchester Police headquarters where he thanked emergency services personnel for their work during the Crumpsall synagogue terror attack, Starmer said:

This was a dreadful attack, a terrorist attack to inflict fear. Attacking Jews because they are Jews.

It’s really important today that the whole country comes together, people of all faiths and no faith, stand in support and solidarity with our Jewish community, and I know that your work will help to that end.

The prime minister added:

We must defeat antisemitism, and that is the responsibility of all of us.

It is the responsibility of government and we will rise to that challenge and do all that we can to absolutely ensure that our Jewish community is safe and secure, and that we show them the strength of the support and solidarity that we have for them.

That will be massively helped by what you have already done, what you’re continuing to do.

Prime minister Keir Starmer has thanked emergency service workers who responded to the synagogue attack on a visit to Greater Manchester Police headquarters.

Speaking to about 40 first responders, Starmer, who was joined by his wife Victoria, said:

I wanted to come and see you to be able to say on my own behalf as prime minister, but on behalf of the whole country, thank you for your response yesterday.

It’s a very humble thank you.

Starmer, who went to the scene before visiting police HQ and said he had seen body-worn footage of the incident, added:

I am absolutely clear in my mind of the professionalism of the response, the speed of the response, and also that an absolutely wful incident would have been even worse if it hadn’t been for your response.

So thank you is a really important two words at a time like this, and I say thank you to each and every one of you, and through you to all the other people that were there responding yesterday and ask that to be passed on to all of those.

One of the victims injured in the Manchester synagogue attack was working for the Comunity Security Trust (CST), a charity which provides security to the Jewish community.

Its chief executive Mark Gardner said in a statement:

I said after October 7 that I did not believe in ‘reassurance’, because it sounds like a magic wand that nothing will happen.

Instead, I gave you my ‘assurance’ that CST would do everything in our power to keep Jews safe so as to encourage strength and resilience.

In pursuit of that mission, one of our CST personnel was seriously injured in yesterday’s terror attack at Heaton Park Synagogue. We pray for his continuing recovery and salute the courage of all those who helped stop the terrorist from getting into the shul.

We will keep doing all we can in the protection of our community and thank all of those who support us in doing so.

Security patrols have been increased in London as a result of the fatal terror attack in Manchester, the Jewish neighbourhood watch group Shomrim has said.

The London North and East arm of the voluntary security organisation also advised synagogue doors to be locked at all times.

In a post on X, the group said:

On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year, the terrorist atttack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue left 2 people dead and 4 seriously injured. Our thoughts go out to the families, friends and the whole Jewish community who have been affected.

Given the heightened risk to the Jewish community, @MPSHackney have significantly stepped up security in #StamfordHill, including armed police patrolling the streets. This is part of the updated High Holy Days policing plan.

@Shomrim urge the community to remain calm yet vigilant. Please ensure synagogue doors are kept locked at all times and report anything unusual, no matter how small.

A vigil for the victims of yesterday’s attack at a north Manchester synagogue will be held at 3pm this afternoon.

Manchester City Council said the vigil would be held at the junction between Middleton Road and Crumpsall Lane in Crumpsall.

A spokesperson said:

Manchester extends its deepest sympathy following the horrific incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Yom Kippur. This act of violence has deeply shaken our city.

Today, we come together to honour those affected and stand united with our Jewish community.

A vigil will be held at 3pm today, (3rd October), at the junction of Middleton Road and Crumpsall Lane (M8 5DS). This will be a space for reflection, support and collective strength in the face of hate.

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.

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.”

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:

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.

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.

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.

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”.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

This is the scene in Crumpsall on Friday morning:

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.

The research, conducted in June and July, found 35% of Jews felt unsafe in Britain in 2025, compared with 9% in 2023 before the Hamas attacks.

Perceptions of antisemitism had also intensified, with 47% of British Jews seeing it as a “very big” problem – up from just 11% in 2012.

The research, conducted by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), also found 32% of Jews reported experiencing at least one antisemitic incident in 2024.

Meanwhile, the Community Security Trust (CST), which has been monitoring antisemitic incidents since 1994, recorded 1,521 cases in the UK from January to June 2025.

This was the second-highest total ever recorded in the first half of any year, second only to the first six months of 2024 with 2,019 in the immediate aftermath of the 7 October atrocity.

Of the 1,521 antisemitic incidents this year, 968 occurred across Greater London and Greater Manchester, the two UK cities with the biggest Jewish populations.

The new report from the JPR examined how British Jews are navigating “a period of profound challenge and instability”.

It found emotional attachment to Israel had increased – with 75% of British Jews feeling emotionally attached and 49% “very attached”, compared with 72% and 40% respectively just before 7 October.

However, it also found “anti-Zionist identification” had risen from 8% in 2022 to 12% in 2025, most notably among younger Jews, with a quarter (24%) of 20- to 29-year-olds now identifying as anti-Zionist, a rise from 13% in 2022.

Related: UK’s Jewish community feels much less safe since 7 October attack, survey finds

Here’s a map showing where the attack took place:

Thursday’s attack drew widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum, with Keir Starmer calling the knife attacker a “vile individual” who “attacked Jews because they are Jews, and attacked Britain because of our values”. Political rivals Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage were among those joining the prime minister in showing support for the Jewish community.

It happened days before the second anniversary of the 7 October attacks by Hamas in Israel. Police said there would be heightened security at synagogues and Jewish community centres in coming days. Research published on Thursday showed that more than a third (35%) of British Jews said they felt unsafe in the UK, compared with 9% before the 7 October attacks.

The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council ​said in a statement on Thursday evening that the attack was “sadly something we feared was coming”.

They added: “We call on all those in positions of power and influence to take the required action to combat hatred against Jewish people, and will be working with the authorities on a series of additional measures to protect our community over the coming days.”

You can reas our full report from yesterday here:

Related: Manchester attack: two killed and three injured after terrorist drives into grounds of synagogue and stabs worshippers

Naming the victims, Detective Ch Supt Lewis Hughes, who is coordinating the casualty response, said:

My deepest sympathies are with Mr Daulby and Mr Cravitz’s loved ones at this extremely hard time.

Specially trained family liaison officers are in contact with them. They will continue to update them on the investigation and support them throughout the coronial process

While there are processes which must be followed, we commit to being mindful of cultural preferences and sensitivities and to ensuring that these men and their loved ones’ wishes are respected.