Mayor says it is believed that the suspect in British synagogue incident is dead
LONDON (AP) — The mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham says authorities believe that the suspect in the stabbing and car ramming incident at a synagogue in the British city is “deceased.”
Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester Thursday, the mayor said it “is believed that the offender is deceased, although it’s not confirmed.”
He said that as a result a “degree of reassurance can be given that it’s not a developing, an ongoing, incident.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
LONDON (AP) — Police said Thursday that four people have been injured after a car was driven at members of the public and a man was stabbed outside a synagogue in the north of Manchester.
The incident, which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, is said to be over after a man, believed to be the offender, was shot by police.
In a series of posts on X, Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall shortly after 9:30 a.m. by a member of the public, who said he had witnessed a car being driven toward members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.
It said that minutes later shots were fired by firearms officers.
“One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” it added.
It said four people were being treated for injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.
Police said it had “declared Plato,” the national code-word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack.” That does not mean it has been declared a terrorist incident.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of the Greater Manchester area, told BBC Radio the “immediate danger appears to be over.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who is at a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, said in a post on X that he was “appalled” by the attack.
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” he said.
Starmer is flying back from the summit to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee, COBRA.
Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors antisemitism in the U.K., said Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the Jewish year.
“It’s a very solemn day and synagogues across the country will be full throughout the day,” he said.
He said there is “always a significant security operation in place” between police and the trust across the Jewish community on all major Jewish festivals.
Manchester was the site of Britain’s deadliest attack in recent years, the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people.