‘Appalled’ UK PM Starmer departs early from a European summit in Copenhagen and decries that this happened on Yom Kippur.
By News Agencies
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The United Kingdom police say they have shot a suspect in an attack outside a synagogue in the north of Manchester in which two people were killed, adding they are treating it as a “terrorist” attack.
The Greater Manchester Police said in a series of posts on X on Thursday that they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9.30am (08:30 GMT) by a member of the public, who said he had witnessed a car being rammed into people and that one man had been stabbed.
Police confirmed that two people were killed in the attack, and a third person, suspected to be the attacker, who was shot by police, was also believed to have died.
They could not confirm if the suspect was dead “due to safety issues surround suspicious items on his person”. A bomb disposal unit has been called and is now at the scene.
Three other people remain in a serious condition, police said.
According to them, shots were fired by officers at 9:38am. “One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” said one post. By 9:41am, paramedics had arrived at the scene, tending to four people with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds, they said.
Police said on X they had “declared Plato” – the national codeword used by emergency services when responding to what they describe as a “marauding terror attack”.
Following the incident, an official told the AFP news agency that Prime Minister Keir Starmer would depart early from a summit of the European Political Community, an intergovernmental forum for political and strategic discussions about the future of the continent, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Speaking before his flight home, Starmer said additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the UK.
The prime minister was likely to attend a Cobra meeting – an emergency gathering of senior government officials convened in national emergencies – on his return to the UK, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from London, said.
“That suggests that Keir Starmer and the UK government believe this to be an incident of significant threat, a terrorist incident or something along those lines, something that threatens the fabric of UK life and UK society,” Challands said.
“It appears that the British government is taking this attack pretty seriously,” he added.
Earlier, Starmer said on X: “I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall … 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.”
I’m appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall.
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…
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 2, 2025
In his reaction soon after the incident, King Charles said he was “deeply shocked” and “saddened” by the attack.
Rabbi Jonathan Romain, head of the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain, said the incident would raise fears among Jews that political violence could turn to religious hatred.
The Muslim Council of Britain said it unequivocally condemned the act of violence, adding that the timing of the attack on Yom Kippur made it “all the more distressing”.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester area, said the offender was believed to be shot dead, although he also did not confirm it.
Speaking to BBC Radio, he said, as a result, a “degree of reassurance can be given that it’s not a developing, an ongoing incident”.
A video shared on social media appeared to show police officers pointing guns at someone lying on the ground outside the front of the synagogue. The armed officers shouted at onlookers to “get back” and “move on”.
The video showed the person on the ground starting to get up before the sound of a gunshot. The person then fell to the ground. Another person was shown lying motionless on the ground outside the synagogue gates with blood near their head, according to the PA news agency.
The Israeli embassy in London condemned the attack as “abhorrent and deeply distressing” in a social media post.
The attack comes on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. It is a time when synagogues are usually busy.
London’s Metropolitan Police said after the attack that it had deployed additional officers around synagogues, “other Jewish community venues and in those boroughs with significant Jewish populations”. The Met said there was no indication of an increased threat to the capital but had taken precautionary measures.
A large number of people worshipping at the synagogue at the time of the incident were held inside while the immediate area was made safe.
Police officers dressed in black combat fatigues and carrying machineguns could be seen inside the cordon outside the synagogue. The area was swamped by dozens of police vehicles, along with fire and ambulance crews, while the force helicopter hovered overhead, said PA.
Dave Rich, of the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that monitors anti-Semitism in the UK, said the day is similar to Christmas Day for Christians, but is a day of solemnity and fasting rather than celebration.
“Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year,” he said.
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