Manchester synagogue attacker 'pledged allegiance' to ISIS, say police

The man who attacked a Manchester synagogue made an emergency call to police during the rampage to “pledge allegiance” to the Islamic State group, UK counter terrorism police revealed Wednesday.

The attacker, identified as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police within seven minutes of the attack, in which two Jewish people were killed – one likely by a stray police bullet. But “in the initial stages of the attack… a call was made by the attacker to police claiming to pledge allegiance to the so-called Islamic State”, a spokesperson for Counter Terrorism Policing in northwest England said Wednesday.Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were both killed and three others seriously wounded in Thursday’s attack in the northwestern city on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The attack on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue was one of the worst antisemitic incidents in Europe since the October 7, 2023, attack in Israel led by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.

Four people, two men and two women, remain in custody for questioning after the attack by Shamie, a UK citizen of Syrian descent.

The Gaza conflict has inflamed passions in Britain, with frequent pro-Palestinian rallies in cities which some politicians and critics allege have stoked antisemitism.

Police have acknowledged that they likely shot two people during its operation to halt the attack, one of whom died and one who received serious injuries.

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A UK police watchdog is probing the police shooting of Shamie, as well as Daulby’s death after he died from a fatal gunshot wound.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said there was no evidence anyone other than police used firearms at the scene.

The investigation “will include whether police may have caused or contributed to the death of the man later found to have suffered the fatal gunshot wound,” it said last week.