Two dead in Manchester synagogue terror attack

MANCHESTER, England (CN) — A man drove into worshippers outside a synagogue in North Manchester on Yom Kippur, leaving two people dead and three more in serious condition on Thursday.

Greater Manchester Police said armed officers shot the suspect dead within seven minutes of the first call.

Counterterrorism police declared it a terrorist incident, with two people arrested in connection with the attack on the Jewish holiday.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor of Counter Terrorism Policing confirmed the identity of the deceased suspect is known but has not been released yet “for safety reasons.”

A controlled explosion was later carried out by a bomb disposal unit after items were strapped around his waist.

The attack took place in Crumpsall, a multicultural and multifaith area with large Jewish and Muslim communities.

Hospitals across Manchester and Salford were briefly put in lockdown as a precaution after the incident.

Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police Stephen Watson credited security staff and worshippers for their quick thinking amid the chaos.

“There were a large number of worshippers attending the synagogue at the time of this attack, but thanks to the immediate bravery of security staff and the worshippers inside as well as the fast response of the police, the attacker was prevented from gaining access," Watson said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack “absolutely shocking” and said “all of our thoughts are with those affected.”

He cut short a visit to Denmark for a security summit to chair an emergency cabinet meeting in London. He added that there would be an increased police presence at synagogues across the country.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said Jewish communities in the city had already been living “with a higher state of anxiety because of the times we are living in.”

The Israeli embassy in London 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.”

The Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Jewish hate crime in the U.K., recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents in 2024, down from 4,296 in 2023 — the highest ever recorded, fueled by reactions to the Israel-Hamas war.

This is not the first terrorist attack in Manchester. In 2017, a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena killed 22 people and injured more than 1,000. It was the deadliest attack in the U.K. since the July 2005 London bombings.

Courthouse News reporter James Francis Whitehead is based in England.

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