Three arrests, three dead: How a deadly terror attack against Manchester's Jewish community unfolded
On the holiest day of the year for the Jewish community, cries instead of prayers rang out in a Manchester suburb.
A large number of people were gathered inside of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Thursday morning, for Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Meanwhile, a suspect was driving to the area in Crumpsall, three miles north of Manchester’s city centre. When he arrived, shortly after morning prayer services had started, he rammed his car into passersby. He got out of the car, stabbed people and tried to enter the synagogue.
Two Jewish people were killed. Four others suffered from serious injuries, police said . The suspect, wearing what looked to be an explosive vest, was shot and killed by officers. It all unfolded in a matter of seven minutes.
On Thursday evening, U.K.’s Counter Terrorism Policing released a statement saying that “three suspects are currently in custody and have been arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism. They are two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s.”
“Although formal identification is yet to take place, we believe the person responsible for today’s attacks is 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie. He is a British citizen of Syrian descent,” the statement adds.
It began when a witness made a call to police at 9:31 a.m. local time. He told them he saw “a car being driven towards members of the public” and said one man had been stabbed, police said in a statement . Officers arrived at the scene three minutes later. A flood of calls started pouring in, telling police that a security guard had been attacked with a knife.
At 9:38 a.m., the suspect was dead.
At 9:41 a.m., paramedics arrived at the scene, tending to people who had been injured by the vehicle and had stab wounds.
A witness identified as Gareth, a delivery van driver, told BBC News that he saw a man with a knife “stabbing the window” of a building nearby, trying to get in, as a victim bled on the street.
“Get back…he has a bomb!” yelled an officer, in a video captured of part of the encounter outside the synagogue, published by BBC. A white star of David on a blue background can be seen at the top of the brick building as the scene played out. Police shouted for everyone in the area to move. One man who stood, staring ahead, was tapped on the shoulder and pulled away by another person.
After warnings from police, the suspect would not listen “so they opened fire,” Gareth said. The man with the knife went down, but he “started getting back up and (the police) shot him again.”
A photo of the suspect circulated online following the attack, showing a bald man with a beard wearing a thick vest, dark clothing and white objects that appeared to be tied around his waist. The image was published by BBC and Sky News , but was not confirmed by police.
“Communities across the U.K. that would normally be marking this holy day are now grieving and worried about their safety,” said assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor of the Metropolitan Police anti-terrorism unit. “U.K. policing is mobilizing, and it’s mobilizing fast. Police forces are stepping up patrols across the country at synagogues and Jewish sites, and more widely, to provide reassurance to all those communities who have been affected by this incident.”
Manchester is home to roughly 30,000 Jews, according to JGuideEurope , a site dedicated to providing information about Jewish culture in Europe. It is the largest Jewish population in Great Britain outside of London. Over the past decade, Jews in Manchester have been targeted by antisemitism. There have been “regular attacks on people and on the Jewish cemetery, when in 2018, dozens of headstones were destroyed ,” JGuideEurope said in a post about the city. In 2024, a bust of Chaïm Weizmann , a biochemist and Israel’s first president, was stolen from the University of Manchester and vandalized.
The attack on Thursday morning was “absolutely shocking,” to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who cut a trip short to return to London. He hosted an emergency meeting at his office on Downing Street.
In an open address, Starmer said that many Jewish families sought refuge in Britain, “fleeing the greatest evil ever inflicted on a people.” But he added: “Britain is also a country where Jewish buildings, synagogues, even schools, require round the clock protection, where dedicated specialist security is necessary because of the daily threat of antisemitic hatred.”
This was a vile terrorist attack that attacked Jews, because they are Jews.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 2, 2025
Antisemitism is a hatred that is rising, once again. Britain must defeat it, once again.
To every Jewish person in this country: I promise that I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the… pic.twitter.com/DAd9OaGNMc
“We must be clear. It is a hatred that is rising once again,” he said, although it was not new. He expressed sadness that Britain’s Jewish community had to live with these fears and promised to bring the security that the community deserves, “starting with a more visible police presence.”
In a statement , Manchester police Chief Const. Sir Stephen Watson applauded the “bravery of security staff and worshippers inside” the synagogue, “and the fast response of the police,” which prevented the suspect from getting inside.
The Embassy of Israel in the U.K. condemned the “act of violence,” which was “perpetrated on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, in a place of prayer and community.” It called the attack “abhorrent and deeply distressing.”
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also spoke out, saying the attack was an “appalling antisemitic atrocity.”
This morning's deadly attack outside a synagogue in Manchester, England on Yom Kippur is an appalling antisemitic atrocity. Canadians are holding the victims' loved ones and all those affected in our thoughts.
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) October 2, 2025
Hate must be confronted in all of its forms and with all available…
“Hate must be confronted in all of its forms and with all available tools. We will always protect the inalienable rights of Jewish communities to live their lives free from intimidation and threats of violence,” he said.
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