Suspected terror attack leaves two people dead and multiple injured after car ploughs through UK synagogue crowd
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/OLI SCARFF
Two people have died and a man has been shot by armed police after a car was driven at pedestrians and a person was stabbed in a suspected terror attack outside a synagogue in Manchester, UK.
Greater Manchester Police said three others are in a serious condition following the attack outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, on Middleton Road in Crumpsall, local time this morning (October 2).
The force confirmed a bomb disposal unit was sent to the scene after footage shared on social media appeared to show members of the public shouting to firearms officers that the suspect had a bomb strapped to him.
Police have confirmed the suspect is dead after shots were fired 9.38am.
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A picture of the alleged attacker, circulating online, showed a man with a beard and dark clothing standing outside the synagogue with unidentified objects strapped to his waist.
He can also be seen holding something in his hand.
The force said it had 'declared Plato' - the national codeword used by police and emergency services when responding to a 'marauding terror attack'.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said 'additional police assets' will be deployed at synagogues across the country following the attack.
Police declared a major incident at 9.37am after receiving a call from a man who said he had witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.
The attack comes as members of the Jewish community observe Yom Kippur - considered the holiest day in the Jewish calendar and a time when synagogues are usually particularly busy.
Starmer told reporters he was 'appalled' at the attack, adding: “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham told the BBC one of the victims appeared to be a security guard who had been attacked with a knife.
A woman, who described herself as a religious Jew who lives next door to the synagogue, said as soon as the suspect got out of the car he 'started stabbing anyone near him'.
Chava Lewin said: “I was outside and heard a banging sound and I thought it might be a firework.
“My husband went outside and then ran back inside and said, ‘there’s been a terrorist attack’.
“I spoke to someone who said she was driving and saw a car driving erratically and it crashed into the gates [of the synagogue].
“She thought maybe he had a heart attack. The second he got out of the car he started stabbing anyone near him. He went for the security guard and tried to break into the synagogue. He was in the courtyard.
“Someone barricaded the door. Everyone is in utter shock.”
A street around a quarter of a mile down the road from the synagogue appeared to be the focus of intense police activity.
A man who lives on White House Avenue said he saw two men in handcuffs being led away by police.
The man, who wished to remain anonymous, told the PA news agency: “They’ve arrested two people on our road.”
He said he did not know the men, or which house they were linked to.
A Jewish man, among a group of shocked onlookers at the cordon, said his wife and daughter and other members of the congregation were still inside the synagogue.
Video shared on social media appeared to show police pointing guns at someone laying on the ground outside the front of the synagogue.
The armed officers shouted at onlookers to 'get back' and 'move on'.
The person on the ground is seen starting to get up before there is the sound of a gunshot and they fall to the ground.
Another person was shown lying motionless on the ground outside the synagogue gates with blood near their head.
In a statement following the attack, the Israeli embassy said: “That such an act of violence should be perpetrated on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, in a place of prayer and community, is abhorrent and deeply distressing.”