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LONDON — Police declared a terrorist incident after two people were killed and three others were seriously injured on Thursday when a man rammed a car into a crowd and stabbed people at a synagogue in the northern English city of Manchester.
It came as worshippers observed Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of counter-terrorism policing, told reporters the attack had been declared a terrorist incident. The suspect was fatally shot by police, he said.
Two people were killed during the incident at the Orthodox synagogue and three others were in “serious condition.”
“Those who have been killed injured at the forefront of our minds as of their families, friends, and all of those who love them and attack them on Jewish community today on Yom Kippur is devastating,” he said.
Authorities believe they know the suspect’s identity but have not released his name as they are “unable to confirm at this stage,” Taylor added. Two arrests have also been made in connection to the attack.
London’s Metropolitan Police is responsible for dealing with all counter terrorism investigations throughout the U.K. and has taken over the investigation from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), which initially dealt with the incident.
GMP earlier said they couldn’t confirm the suspect’s death because of “suspicious items” on the body, which were being dealt with by bomb disposal officers.
Greater Manchester Police said on X that officers were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, in a part of north Manchester known for its large Jewish community, at 9:31 a.m. local time (4:31 a.m. ET). The force said a witnesses described seeing “a car being driven towards members of the public and one man had been stabbed.”
Minutes later, the force said a man “believed to be the offender” had been shot by officers.
It added that the incident could have been worse if a quick-thinking member of the congregation hadn’t stopped the suspect from entering the building.
“We are grateful to the member of the public whose quick response to what they witnessed allowed our swift action, and as a result the offender was prevented from entering the synagogue,” a police spokesperson said.
A video uploaded to social media, which was verified by NBC News, shows a man lying on the ground outside the synagogue while two officers point their guns at him. When the man tries to get up an officer fires a single round.
The same video shows a man wearing a Jewish yarmulke lying in a pool of blood just yards away.
GMP said a large number of worshippers were kept inside the synagogue right after the attack but have since been allowed to leave.
Taylor, of the Metropolitan Police, said patrols at synagogues and Jewish sites had increased across the country. Police were “mobilizing fast,” he said.
“At counter terrorism police, we’re deploying all of our capabilities in response to what has happened, and we have resources from across our network involved,” Taylor added.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who was at a European Summit in Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, traveled back to London to chair a meeting of COBRA, the U.K.’s emergency response committee.
The Israeli Embassy in London condemned the attack in a statement.
“That such an act of violence should be perpetrated on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, in a place of prayer and community, is abhorrent and deeply distressing,” it said.
King Charles III said in a statement that he and Queen Camilla were “deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horrific attack in Manchester, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community.”
Earlier, Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack in a post on X.
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific. My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders,” said Starmer, whose wife, Victoria, is Jewish.
The Community Security Trust, a Jewish charity that provides security services, said it was “working with police and the local Jewish community.”
Graham Stringer, the member of Parliament who represents the area, said in a statement that it was “dreadful attack designed to damage the Jewish community and damage inter-faith and inter-community relationships.”
He said Mancunians, the term for people from Manchester, would come together just as they did after the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, in which 22 people died following an Ariana Grande concert.
Patrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.
Isabella Colletta is a desk editor for NBC News in London.
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