Two people were killed after an assailant drove a car into pedestrians and stabbed a security guard near a synagogue in England on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, British police said.
Greater Manchester Police stated that the suspect, who was believed to be carrying a bomb, was shot after they rushed to the scene at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall district of the city in northern England.
Police responded when a witness reported that a car had plowed into members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.
The suspect was thought to be dead, but officers were unable to confirm this “due to safety concerns regarding suspicious items on his person,” with a bomb disposal unit dispatched to the area.
A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed police killing a man inside the synagogue’s perimeter, while another man lay on the floor in a pool of blood, dressed in a traditional Jewish headdress.
“He has a bomb; go away!” an armed police officer shouted to onlookers as he tried to wave away members of the public.
In addition to the two confirmed deaths, three others were in serious condition.
Following the attack, police were observed leading a large number of largely Jewish senior men away from the synagogue, some in tears and many looking stunned. Some wore white robes, while others wore suits and a skullcap.
“I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said as he rushed away early from a European political gathering in Copenhagen to return to Britain to chair an emergency meeting.
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Starmer said.
According to police, a considerable number of individuals were worshipping inside the synagogue at the time, and the building was later evacuated.
“We are grateful to the member of the public whose quick response to what they witnessed allowed our swift action, and as a result, the offender was prevented from entering the synagogue,” a police spokesperson said.
Britain’s King Charles was “deeply shocked and saddened” to learn of the incident, “especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”
Chava Lewin, a neighbor, claimed she was told the automobile was driving recklessly before colliding with the synagogue’s gates.
“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,” she told British media. “Someone barricaded the door. Everyone is in utter shock.”
Starmer announced that more police were being deployed to synagogues around the country, adding that “we will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe.”
Yom Kippur is the most important day on the Jewish calendar, when even non-regular synagogue-goers stop to pray, and all traffic in Israel comes to a halt.
Britain had its second worst year in modern times for antisemitism in 2024, with over 3,500 instances documented, indicating sustained levels of hatred for Jews, according to the Community Security Trust, which provides security to Jewish institutions across the country.
Antisemitism reached new highs with Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza, which devastated the Palestinian enclave.
Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Britain has seen a number of Islamist militant assaults, the worst of which was the July 2005 suicide bombings in London’s transportation network, which killed 52 people.
A 2017 suicide bomb attack, which occurred at the end of an Ariana Grande pop concert in Manchester, killed 22 people and injured hundreds.
In recent years, British authorities have issued warnings about the threat posed by organized far-right terrorism.
