Jihad al Shamie was on police bail for an alleged rape when he carried out the terror attack yesterday, Sky News understands. Earlier, Greater Manchester Police said one of two people killed was mistakenly shot by officers during the response. Follow the latest below.
Friday 3 October 2025 20:52, UK
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Laurence Taylor, the head of counterterror policing in the UK, says three more people have been arrested – taking the total number to six. 
“We have now arrested three further people, one man and two women, aged between 18 and mid-40s,” he has just said in an update.
“This brings the number of people in custody arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism to six.”
He also reveals:
To mark a week since yesterday’s terror attack, protesters will gather outside Downing Street next Thursday.
That’s according to the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which plans to hold the demonstration to demand an end to “platitudes” and “lip service”.
“We will be protesting outside Downing Street to demand action, not empty words,” the group says in a statement.
“Those murdered yesterday were simply going to synagogue to pray on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Their deaths were made inevitable by the radicalisation and Islamist extremism that successive governments have allowed to fester – ignoring warnings, tolerating incitement, and failing to act.
“If you reward terrorism, you get terrorism; if you appease the mob, the mob is emboldened.”
Organisers are calling on the government to “ban extremist protests, hold police chiefs accountable, compel regulators to step up, and ensure universities and media accept responsibility for the environment of hatred they have tolerated”.
“No more double standards: the mobs must be treated like those at Southport – with the full force of the law,” the statement adds.
We can now bring you an update on the police investigation.
Greater Manchester Police officers are carrying out searches at a house in Bolton, around 20 minutes from the synagogue.
We understand police vehicles and tactical aid units are there.
Heightened security is nothing new at Jewish sites and events across the country.
But they have taken added significance since yesterday’s terror attack – and raised fears for many Jews in wider society.
Our communities correspondent Lisa Holland has spoken to some members of the Jewish community to find out how they feel on the streets of Britain…
Israel’s minister for the diaspora and combating antisemitism says he has invited Stephen Yaxley-Lennon to visit the country.
Far-right figure Yaxley-Lennon – also known as Tommy Robinson –  will go in mid-October, according to Amichai Chikli.
“Tommy is a courageous leader on the front line against radical Islam,” he says.
“At a time when Jews across Europe face rising antisemitism, it is vital to strengthen bonds with allies who refuse to be silent.
“He has proven himself a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people, unafraid to speak the truth and confront hate.”
Israel, he says, will “always stand with the Jewish community and our allies worldwide”.
“Together with friends like Tommy Robinson, we will build stronger bridges of solidarity, fight terror, and defend Western civilisation and our shared values,” he adds.
As we saw earlier today, David Lammy was heckled at a vigil in Manchester.
The deputy prime minister has since posted a brief statement, sharing he “heard the pain, anger and grief”.
We caught up with some of the hecklers, with one telling us the government has to stop giving “empty words”.
Another, whose grandfather was killed during the Holocaust, says his father was always proud to be British and fought on D-Day.
He would have been “horrified” by yesterday’s terror attack, he says.
Watch their remarks in the clip below…
Jihad al Shamie was on police bail for alleged rape, Sky News understands – as we reported earlier.
Authorities said yesterday he was not known to police before his terror attack on the synagogue.
And Major General Chip Chapman, the former head of counter terror at the Ministry of Defence, says that could still stand.
“I think you have to put that to one side for a moment, because being arrested is only the first part,” he told our presenter Jonathan Samuels. 
He says the suspect would then have to be charged and go through a trial. 
His alleged crime, he says, is not the same as a terrorist attack.
“And you can’t correlate the two in terms of knowing when someone is going to do a terrorist attack,” he adds.
“It will form part of the investigation. But sort of saying that in terms of [being] known to authorities is a bit of a red herring.”
Watch his remarks in the video below…
Melvin Cravitz was one of the two people killed in yesterday’s terror attack.
In a tribute released through Greater Manchester Police, his family describes him as a “kind and caring man”.
The 66-year-old was a security guard at the synagogue – and police say he “bravely” prevented the attacker from getting in.
“Melvin would do anything to help anyone,” his family says.
“He was so kind, caring and always wanted to chat and get to know people.
“He was devoted to his wife, family and loved his food. He will be sorely missed by his wife, family, friends and community.
“We ask for privacy as we try to come to terms with this shocking loss.”
The father-in-law of former defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps was at the synagogue when the attack happened.
His “chilling first-hand account” brought home the horror of the killings, he writes in a post on X today.
Shapps had shared yesterday that Michael Goldstone, the father of his wife Belinda, had come “face to face with the terrorist”.
The retired taxi driver, who is 79, was holding the front doors as the attacker tried to kick them down.
Shapps and his wife had tried to contact Goldstone but were unable to reach him, only finding out that he was OK when they saw him leaving the synagogue on Sky News.
An observant Jew, Sir Grant served as defence secretary from 2023 to 2025. He was described as the first Jewish person to hold the role since 1995.
Tap below for more on this story…
By Martin Brunt, crime correspondent
The synagogue terrorist Jihad al Shamie may have been behind death threats sent to an MP in a row over the politician’s support for Israel.
In 2012, Tory MP John Howell was involved in a row with a constituent, a pro-Palestine activist, over his backing of Israeli military tactics.
Howell told the Jerusalem Post he received around 30 emails, some of which were “worrying”.
There were a series of emails from someone calling himself “Jihad Alshamie”, who told him: “It is people like you who deserve to die.”
Howell, who was the Conservative MP for Henley but has since stood down, reported the threat to Thames Valley Police and was reportedly offered police protection.
He told Sky News he had deleted the emails and had no idea if it was the same man.
Thames Valley Police Chief Superintendent Emma Baillie said: “We have no intelligence that the individual named in connection to the tragic attack in Manchester has ever been linked to any TVP investigation.
“We take any threats of violence extremely seriously, but Thames Valley Police has no record of ever receiving any reports relating to an individual named Jihad Alshamie or Jihad al Shamie.”
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