LONDON (AP) — Two people were killed and three others were seriously wounded Thursday in a synagogue attack in northern England on the holiest day of the Jewish year, police said.
The suspect is also believed to be dead after being shot by officers, but that couldn’t be immediately confirmed because of concerns he had an explosive on him, Greater Manchester Police said. A bomb disposal team was at the scene.
The incident took place as people gathered at the synagogue on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and most solemn day in the Jewish calendar.
In a series of posts on X, Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9:30 a.m. by a member of the public, who said he had witnessed a car being driven toward members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.
Shots were fired by firearms officers minutes later, police said.
“One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” it added.
Police initially said four other people were being treated for injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds. They later updated the number of victims to five.
Police had “declared Plato,” the national code-word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack.” That does not mean it has been declared a terrorist incident.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was appalled by the attack and additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the U.K.
He was flying home early from a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.
“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 on the X platform.
Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors antisemitism in the U.K., said Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year.
“It’s a very solemn day and synagogues across the country will be full throughout the day,” he said.
He said there is “always a significant security operation in place” between police and the trust across the Jewish community on all major Jewish festivals.
Manchester was the site of Britain’s deadliest attack in recent years, the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people.