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The incident comes on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar
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Multiple people have been injured after several people were stabbed and a car was driven at members of the public at a synagogue in Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police said a suspect has been shot and four people have suffered injuries.
The incident comes on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar, where people were gathered at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Greater Manchester.
Police were called to the incident at 9.30am by a member of the public, stating he had witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public, and one man had been stabbed.
Firearms officers were deployed at 9.34am as police continued to receive further reports from members of the public that a security guard had been attacked with a knife.
The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said it is a “serious incident” and advised people to avoid the area.
“At the same time, I can give some assurance that the immediate danger appears to be over,” he told the BBC.
He said the incident was dealt with “effectively” by those on site and by Greater Manchester Police.
COBR, or Cobra, stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms – and is shorthand for the cabinet committee that is convened to handle matters of national emergency or major disruption.
The PM had been expected to use today’s summit in Copenhagen to discuss measures to tackle migration – a key aspect of the PM’s national agenda amid mounting pressure on the government to move further and faster in tackling the issue.
Cobra meetings are normally attended by senior government officials and other key figures.
While the PM’s attendance at Cobra meetings is not essential, his decision to fly home early shows how seriously the PM is taking the crisis in Manchester.
In video shared on social media, an onlooker could be heard saying that the suspect “has got a bomb on him” and appears to be trying to press a button to detonate it.
“He’s going to blow himself up, he’s trying to press the button,” the person is heard to say before there is the sound of a gunshot and the person falls to the ground.
Political correspondent, Millie Cooke reports: Sir Keir Starmer is flying home early from a meeting of European leaders to chair a Cobra meeting following the attack at a synagogue in Greater Manchester, it is understood.
The PM has cut his visit to Copenhagen for the European summit short, where leaders were expected to discuss plans to tackle migration.He was expected to fly home this evening.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said “it is believed that the offender is deceased” after reports of a stabbing outside a synagogue in the city.
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, the mayor said: “It is believed that the offender is deceased, although it’s not confirmed.
“So, that’s what I meant in saying that a degree of reassurance can be given that it’s not a developing, an ongoing, incident.
“It would appear that it is contained, although, obviously, the scene is very much an active scene.”
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she is “horrified” by the attack.
In a post on X she said: “I am horrified by the news of an attack at a synagogue in Manchester today, on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.”
A white lorry marked “Bomb Disposal” has arrived at the scene and gone behind the cordon outside the synagogue.
Sir Keir Starmer will fly home early from a meeting of European leaders to chair a Cobra meeting following the attack at a synagogue in Greater Manchester, it is understood.
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