UK Synagogue Attack: Police Believe They Shot Victim While Stopping Attacker

UK police said a preliminary determination by a pathologist suggested that one of the two Jewish men killed outside a synagogue on Oct. 2 died from a gunshot wound.

Greater Manchester Police said on Oct. 2 that they were called at 9:31 a.m. to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, about three miles north of Manchester city center, after a member of the public reported that a car had been driven at people outside the building.

Head of Counterterrorism Policing Laurence Taylor said the attacker was shot dead by police during the incident. The attack took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, when worshippers traditionally spend the day fasting and in prayer.

“Overnight, we have taken advice from the Home Office pathologist ahead of full post-mortem examinations scheduled for later today,” Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said in an Oct. 3 statement. “The Home Office pathologist has advised that he has provisionally determined, that one of the deceased victims would appear to have suffered a wound consistent with a gunshot injury.”

‘Tragic, Unforeseen Consequence’

Watson added that it is currently believed that the attacker, Jihad Al Shamie, a British national of Syrian origin, was not carrying a gun and that the only shots fired during the incident were from authorized police firearms officers “as they worked to prevent the offender from entering the synagogue.”

“It follows therefore, that subject to further forensic examination, this injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end,” Watson said.

Watson said the police have been advised by doctors that one of the three casualties, who is still being treated in hospital, also appears to have suffered a gunshot wound, “which is mercifully not life-threatening.”

“It is believed that both victims were close together behind the synagogue door, as worshippers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining entry,” he said.

The chief constable said his thoughts and prayers remained with all of the families and the wider community in Manchester.

He said specialist officers were providing support for all those affected by the incident.

‘Vile Terrorist Attack’

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose wife is Jewish, said in an Oct. 2 post on X that the attack was a “vile terrorist attack that attacked Jews, because they are Jews.”

“Antisemitism is a hatred that is rising, once again. Britain must defeat it, once again. To every Jewish person in this country: I promise that I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the security you deserve,” he said.

British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said on X that it was a day “we hoped we would never see, but which deep down, we knew would come.”

“For so long we have witnessed an unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on our streets, on campuses, on social media and elsewhere—this is the tragic result,” Mirvis said.

Since Oct. 7, 2023—when Hamas launched its attacks into Israel, killing 1,200 people, before Israel launched an air and ground offensive into the Gaza Strip—there has been an upsurge of anti-Semitic attacks reported across Europe.

The Community Security Trust (CST) said in August 2024 that there had been a record high number of anti-Semitic incidents in the first half of this year, with the majority being motivated by the Israel–Hamas conflict.

The CST  said in its report that 1,978 incidents took place from January to June 2024, more than double the number for the same period in 2023, when 964 incidents occurred.