Two dead in UK synagogue attack on Yom Kippur, suspect ‘with bomb’ shot by police

At least 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 said 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 after a witness said a car had rammed members of the public and that one man had been stabbed. The suspect was believed to be dead but officers could not confirm this “due to safety issues surrounding suspicious items on his person”, with a bomb disposal unit called to the scene.

‘HE HAS A BOMB!’

A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed police shooting a man inside the synagogue’s perimeter, while another man lay on the floor in a pool of blood, appearing to wear a traditional Jewish head covering.

“He has a bomb, go away!” an armed police officer shouted to onlookers as he tried to wave away members of the public.

As well as the two people who were confirmed dead, three others were in a serious condition.

After the attack, police were seen ushering a large group of mostly Jewish elderly men - some in tears, many looking shocked - away from the synagogue. Some were wearing white robes, others were in suits and wearing 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.

Police said a large number of people had been worshipping inside the synagogue at the time and the building had since been 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 said he was “deeply shocked and saddened” to learn of the attack, “especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community”.

SUSPECT WAS ‘STABBING ANYONE NEAR HIM’

A neighbour, Chava Lewin, said she had been told that the car had been driving erratically before crashing into the gates of the synagogue.

“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 said that additional police were being deployed to synagogues across the country, adding “we will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe”.

Yom Kippur is the most sacred day on the Jewish calendar when even many non-regular synagogue-goers take time to pray and all road traffic stops in Israel.

Britain reported its second worst year in modern times for antisemitism in 2024 with more than 3,500 incidents being recorded, reflecting sustained levels of hatred towards Jews, the Community Security Trust, which provides security to Jewish organisations across Britain, said earlier this year.

Levels of antisemitism rose to record levels in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s subsequent war in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian enclave.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Britain has suffered a number of Islamist militant attacks, with the worst being the July 2005 suicide bombings in the London transport network which killed 52 people.

More recently, a 2017 suicide bomb attack at the end of an Ariana Grande pop concert in Manchester killed 22 people and injured hundreds.

British police have in recent years also warned about the threat from organised far-right terrorism.

Source: Reuters

--Agencies