Worshippers at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Crumpsall were marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, when the attacker drove his car into a pedestrian before stabbing bystanders.
Armed officers arrived within minutes of the first emergency call at 9.31am. Fearing the suspect could detonate what appeared to be a suicide belt, police opened fire and killed him at the scene. Greater Manchester Police later confirmed the device was not viable.
By 9.37am, police had declared a major incident and activated “Plato”, the national protocol for responding to a marauding terror attack.
Bravery at the synagogue
Security staff and members of the congregation have been praised for their actions in preventing the attacker from entering the synagogue, where terrified worshippers barricaded themselves inside.
Chava Lewin, who lives next door, described the chaos:
“I was outside and heard a banging sound, and I thought it might be a firework. My husband ran back inside shouting, ‘There’s been a terrorist attack’. The second he got out of the car, he started stabbing anyone near him. He tried to break into the synagogue. Everyone is in utter shock.”
Eyewitness Khurram Rafiq, 35, said he initially thought he was witnessing a car crash before realising it was deliberate.
“The knifeman walked through the gates and stabbed at least two men. He looked very robotic, like he had a job to do.”
Another witness told BBC Radio Manchester the man tried to smash his way into the building. “He was stabbing the window. Within seconds, police arrived, warned him, and when he ignored them, they opened fire.”
Emergency response
Paramedics reached the scene by 9.47am and treated casualties before transferring three people to hospital with serious injuries. Bomb disposal officers later confirmed the suspect’s belt was a fake device.
Two members of Manchester’s Jewish community lost their lives in the attack.
Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson praised the “immediate bravery” of worshippers and security staff. “Thanks to their actions, and the fast response of police, the attacker was prevented from entering the synagogue. Yom Kippur is a day when families should feel entirely safe in their places of worship.”
