Deadly attack outside UK synagogue on Yom Kippur is declared terrorism

LONDON — An attacker rammed a car into people outside a synagogue in Manchester, England, then went on a stabbing spree Thursday, killing two people in what police called an act of terrorism on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

Police said officers responded within minutes and shot and killed the attacker, whom they identified as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent. Though police described the assault as a terrorist attack, they also said that investigators were still “working to understand the motivation.”

Three other people were arrested, police said, on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism in connection with the assault outside the synagogue, the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation.

Police did not name those arrested, in accordance with privacy rules, but said they were two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s. British officials said late Thursday that al-Shamie had entered the United Kingdom as a “very young child” and was granted British citizenship in 2006.

Stephen Watson, the chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police, said the attacker, who seriously wounded three other people, was wearing a vest the constable described as having the “appearance of an explosive device.” Investigators later determined it was not capable of causing an explosion.

The violence in Manchester comes amid heightened fears across Europe and the United States for the safety of Jews amid a rise in antisemitism related to Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain called the attack “absolutely shocking.” He cut short a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he had been attending a conference of European leaders, to lead a meeting of a government committee that handles national emergencies.

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