UK police shoot man suspected of car ramming, stabbing near synagogue

In a case that they are treating as a terrorist attack, British police say they shot a man who they thought was stabbing him at a synagogue and ramming people with a car in the north of Manchester.

A member of the public called the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9.30am (08:30 GMT), who claimed he had witnessed a car being driven at people and that one man had been stabbed, and in a series of posts on X.

At 9:38 a.m., police reported that firearms officers fired shots. One post read, “One man has been shot, believed to be the offender.” Paramedics arrived at the scene by 9.41 a.m., treating four people who had been injured by both the car and stab wounds.

Police claimed on X that they had “declared Plato,” the national term for what emergency services use to respond to what they call a “marauding terror attack.”

A UK official confirmed to AFP that Keir Starmer would leave the European Political Community summit early after the incident.

The prime minister announced that more police would be stationed at synagogues throughout the UK before his return home.

According to Al Jazeera, the Prime Minister will be present at a Cobra meeting, a gathering of senior government officials set up for emergencies.

According to Rory Challands, a journalist for Al Jazeera from London, “that suggests that Keir Starmer and the UK government believed this to be a significant threat, a terrorist incident, or something else along those lines,”

He said, “It seems that the British government is seriously considering this situation.”

The attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall, which occurred on Yom Kippur, the most holy day in the Jewish calendar, makes it even more obscene. Starmer previously stated on X: “I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall.

“My thoughts are with all the loved ones of all those who have been affected, and I want to thank everyone who came first in the first place.”

The synagogue attack in Crumpsall has shocked me.

This is even more incredibly horrible because it happened on Yom Kippur, the most holy day in the Jewish calendar.

My thoughts are with all those who have been affected, and I extend my condolences to the emergency…

Jewish calendar’s most holy day is attacked.

Although the information was not yet confirmed, the offender was reportedly believed to be deceased, according to Mayor of the Greater Manchester area, Andy Burnham.

He claimed in a conversation with BBC Radio Manchester that “there can be some degree of reassurance that this is not a developing, ongoing, incident.”

Police officers allegedly aimed guns at someone lying on the ground outside the synagogue in a video that was shared on social media. The armed officers yelled “get back” and “move on” at the crowd.

Before a gunshot audible, the video showed the person on the ground attempting to climb up. Then, the victim fell to the ground. According to UK news agency PA, another person was spotted lying motionless on the ground near the synagogue gates while their head was bleeding.

Inside the synagogue, police officers could be seen carrying machineguns and combat fatigues in black. The force helicopter hovered overhead, according to PA, and the area was swarmn with numerous police vehicles, along with fire and ambulance personnel.

The Jewish community is observed Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish calendar’s most holy day and when synagogues are typically particularly busy, as a result of the reported stabbings.

The day is marked by solemnity and fasting rather than celebration, according to Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that tracks anti-Semitism in the UK.