Two worshippers were murdered and three others seriously wounded in a stabbing and car-ramming terror attack Thursday morning outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester. The terrorist was shot dead by armed police, and two additional suspects were arrested near the scene on suspicion of involvement.
Local Police said they received an emergency call at 9:31 a.m. local time, reporting that a man had stabbed a passerby and driven a car into worshippers outside the synagogue in the Crumpsall neighborhood. Armed officers arrived within minutes, confronting the suspect at 9:40. Police opened fire after he ignored repeated warnings to drop his weapon.
Video footage circulated on social media shows two armed officers standing over the assailant lying on the ground in the synagogue courtyard, instructing bystanders to keep their distance amid fears he might have been carrying explosives. Another man is seen collapsed and bleeding outside the synagogue gates.
Warning: This video contains distressing images.
Footage shows the moment police opened fire on the suspected attacker at a synagogue in Manchester.
Latest on this story: https://t.co/bA4Q9KtTzf pic.twitter.com/8fpU31089W
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 2, 2025
An eyewitness named Gareth told local media: "We saw a wrecked car and a man lying bleeding on the ground in front of it. On the other side there was someone with a knife, trying to smash his way into the synagogue. Within seconds the police arrived. They shouted warnings at him several times, but he didn't listen, and then they opened fire."
Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Taylor, head of the UK's national counterterrorism policing unit, confirmed that the incident is being treated as a terrorist attack. "We are now leading the investigation into what happened. We believe we know the identity of the attacker, but for safety reasons at the scene we cannot confirm it yet," he said, adding that security services were working to build "a full intelligence picture in the coming days and weeks."
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was "horrified by the attack at the synagogue in Crumpsall," stressing that the timing on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, made it "all the more appalling." In a statement, he expressed condolences to the families of the victims and thanked emergency services for their rapid response.
Starmer cut short a visit to Denmark and convened an emergency cabinet meeting in London. Speaking to reporters before boarding his plane, he announced that "additional police officers are being deployed to synagogues across the country, and we will do everything possible to keep our Jewish community safe."
The Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation is an Orthodox synagogue. Manchester is home to Britain's second-largest Jewish community after London, numbering about 30,000.
