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Victim died after being shot by armed police in response to synagogue attackOne of the victims in yesterday’s attack outside a synagogue in north Manchester died after being shot accidentally by an armed officer, police have confirmed.Chief constable Stephen Watson, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said that the attacker Jihad al-Shamie was not in possession of a firearm and that the death was the result of “a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end”.A second member of the public sustained non-life threatening gunshot injuries, he added.In a statement, he said:
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.
It is currently believed that the suspect, Jihad al-Shamie, was not in possession of a firearm and the only shots fired were from GMP’s Authorised Firearms Officers as they worked to prevent the offender from entering the synagogue and causing further harm to our Jewish community.
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.
We have also been advised by medical professionals that one of the three victims currently receiving treatment in hospital, has also suffered a gunshot wound, which is mercifully not life threatening.
ShareUpdated at 11.08 BSTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureThe new Archbishop of Canterbury said the Church of England stood with the Jewish community against antisemitism following an attack on a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday which killed two men.“We then, as a church, have a responsibility to be a people who stand with the Jewish community against antisemitism in all its forms,” Archbishop of Canterbury-designate Sarah Mullally said on Friday in her first speech since being appointed to the role.ShareKeir Starmer visits scene of synagogue attack on Friday morningKeir Starmer and his wife Victoria have visited the scene of yesterday’s fatal attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester.The prime minister was seen this morning meeting police officers and viewing the flowers and tribute messages left on the street outside.Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria react as they visit the scene outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, on October 3, 2025. Photograph: Paul Currie/AFP/Getty ImagesKeir Starmer, accompanied by Victoria Starmer during a visit to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAKeir Starmer, accompanied by Victoria Starmer, shakes hands with a police officer on duty during a visit to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAShareGeoff Haliwell, 72, who lives close to Jihad al-Shamie’s home in Prestwich, said the property used to be on his window cleaning round.Haliwell said he believed the al-Shamie family had lived at the address for around 20 years including his mother, father and brothers.He said the father had lived there for five or six years then left the home but would visit in a car with French number plates.He said Jihad al-Shamie would sometimes wear western clothes and other times “traditional” Syrian dress. He also said Jihad al-Shamie would use benches to work out.He added: “I would see him at least once or twice a week, we just said ‘hello’.“I didn’t even know his name. He was just a straightforward, ordinary lad, nothing [that] would stand out.”SharePeople have been leaving flowers outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall this morning.Here are a few pictures of the flowers and messages that have been left:A woman places bunches of flowers and tribute messages at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAA message on a bunch of flowers left near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, where two people died in a terror attack on Thursday. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAFlowers and messages left at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, where two people died in a terror attack. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PAA person lays flowers at the scene outside the Manchester synagogue, where multiple people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, October 3, 2025. Photograph: Phil Noble/ReutersShareThis image is believed to be of the Manchester synagogue attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, who was shot dead by armed police on Thursday morning.It was taken from Facebook. It was uploaded on 23 October last year.Image posted on Facebook of Jihad al-Shamie, on October 23, 2024. Photograph: FacebookShareUpdated at 10.10 BSTMetropolitan Police urges organisers to delay or cancel Palestine Action protestA pro-Palestine protest planned for Saturday in London should be cancelled following the terror attack in Manchester, the Metropolitan Police has insisted.A statement from the Met published on social media site X on Friday morning said:
The horrific terrorist attack that took place in Manchester yesterday will have caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London.
Yet at a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation.
By choosing to encourage mass law-breaking on this scale, Defend Our Juries are drawing resources away from the communities of London at a time when they are needed most.
We urge them to do the responsible thing and delay or cancel their plans.
ShareUpdated at 10.07 BSTNeighbours of the synagogue killer said he had lived there since around 2021, and one neighbour remembered a baby also living at the address but could not recall seeing a woman living there.One woman told PA Media:
We used to see him out in the garden working out, doing weights, press ups.
He used to change his clothes. One day he would be wearing the full gown, to the floor and the next jeans and pyjama bottoms.
Another neighbour described how armed police arrived at the house around 3.15pm on Thursday.
A man, who would only give his name as Mike, 35, said he was visiting his mother’s house and was at the window and looked up to see police arrived.He said:
There was a whole load of armed police coming up the street, they were all in black, they were all in vans and a big marked police car blocked the street.
They went to the house and started screaming, ‘Armed police! Come out!’ They had a chain saw. They left after about an hour.
Mike said he did not see anyone taken away and did not personally know Al-Shamie.
ShareJosh HallidayArmed counter-terror officer swooped on the attacker’s semi-detached property shortly before 4.30pm yesterday, around seven hours after the attack at a synagogue about two miles away.Footage shared by neighbours shows heavily armed officers in military fatigues preparing to raid the house with a chainsaw and a police dog. One officer carried two bulletproof shields.“They just came up the street shouting and screaming,” said one neighbour, Mike, who only wanted to give his first name. “They shouted ‘Get down’ … they were there for ages.”Another neighbour, Paul Wright, 60, said he feared an anti-Jewish attack was imminent given the raised tensions over the Gaza conflict.“It doesn’t surprise me. I suppose if you think you’re mandated by God to do that it’s a great force multiplier,” he said.ShareIsrael’s president, Isaac Herzog, has said Thursday was a “horrific day” for the Jewish community in Britain, Britain at large, and the Jewish community throughout the world.“It’s a shocking reminder of what we’ve been alerting on for quite some time, that this heatwave of antisemitism and anti-Jewish feelings all over the world at the end reaches bloodshed,” he told LBC.The Israeli president visited the UK last month and held what he described as a “tough” set of exchanges over humanitarian aid in Gaza with Keir Starmer in Downing Street. There were street protests during his visit demanding that he be arrested as a war criminal.This morning, Herzog said what happened at the synagogue in Crumpsall was a “true horror” and said “very strong steps” are required in pre-empting “this horrific wave of terror and antisemitism”.ShareResidents in Langley Crescent said Jihad al-Shamie had lived there since around 2021, and one neighbour remembered a baby also living at the address but could not recall seeing a woman living there.Another neighbour described how armed police arrived at the house around 3.15pm on Thursday.Press Association said the man, who would only give his name as Mike, 35, said he was visiting his mother’s house and was at the window and looked up to see police arrive. He said:
There was a whole load of armed police coming up the street, they were all in black, they were all in vans and a big marked police car blocked the street.
They went to the house and started screaming, ‘Armed police! Come out!’ They had a chainsaw. They left after about an hour.”
Mike said he did not see anyone taken away and did not personally know Al-Shamie.Share
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