 "mergency personnel work at the scene following an incident outside a synagogue in north Manchester")
Police have shot a man believed to be the suspect in an incident outside a synagogue in north Manchester, where four people were injured after a car was driven at pedestrians and two people were stabbed to death.
Greater Manchester Police said in a series of posts on X that they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9:30 am on Sunday, following reports from a witness who saw the attack unfold.
Within minutes of arriving at the scene, armed officers discharged their weapons, shooting a man believed to be the offender. Authorities confirmed that four pedestrians are being treated for injuries resulting from both the vehicle ramming and the stabbing.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham stated that the immediate danger appears to have passed.
The incident occurred during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Following the incident, a UK official informed AFP that Prime Minister Keir Starmer would cut short his visit to the European Political Community summit in Copenhagen.
Starmer said in a statement on X: “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.
“My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders.”
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, stated that one of the victims seemed to be a security guard who had been stabbed.
“It would seem that some of the security used by our colleagues in the Jewish community has really played a role here in preventing it being a worse situation,” he said.
The sequence of events
Footage from social media showed the tense moments outside a synagogue, where armed police officers were pointing weapons at an individual lying on the pavement, while simultaneously yelling at bystanders to leave the area.
The video then captured the person attempting to stand up before a gunshot was heard, after which the person collapsed. Separately, a second individual was seen lying still near the synagogue gates with apparent head injuries. The entire vicinity was sealed off by a heavy police cordon, including officers in tactical gear with machine guns, and was overrun by emergency services and police vehicles.