LONDON — Not less than two folks had been killed when a person drove a automobile towards a crowd of individuals and launched a stabbing assault close to a synagogue in Manchester, a northern British metropolis, on Thursday, in line with police.
A 3rd particular person, who police mentioned was “a person believed to be the offender,” was shot by responding cops and is believed to have additionally died.
The suspect’s dying “can not at the moment be confirmed because of questions of safety encompass suspicious gadgets on his particular person,” police mentioned in an announcement. “The bomb disposal unit has been referred to as and is now on the scene.”
Members of the Armed Forces put together a bomb disposal robotic inside a Police cordon exterior Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, on Oct. 2, 2025.
Paul Currie/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Not less than three different folks had been injured and “stay in a severe situation,” police mentioned.
The incident occurred exterior the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in a northern suburb of town on Thursday morning, regulation enforcement mentioned.
Police reported “accidents brought on by each the automobile and stab wounds.” A member of the general public advised responding officers “he had witnessed a automotive being pushed in the direction of members of the general public,” together with a person being stabbed, police mentioned.
Firearms officers responded to the decision, police mentioned.
A police officer stands on obligation at a cordon close to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, on October 2, 2025, following studies of a stabbing.
Paul Currie/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Police mentioned they’d declared a serious incident, together with a “PLATO” designation, a regulation enforcement shorthand which means the incident was being handled as a possible marauding terrorist assault.
Thursday is Yom Kippur, which is taken into account the holiest day of the yr in Judaism.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned in a submit to X that he was “appalled by the assault at a synagogue in Crumpsall.”
“The truth that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day within the Jewish calendar, makes it all of the extra horrific,” the prime minister added.
“My ideas are with the family members of all these affected, and my thanks go to the emergency providers and all the primary responders,” Starmer wrote.
Starmer was in Copenhagen, Denmark, for a summit with European leaders when the incident occurred.
Chatting with reporters, the prime minister mentioned he was returning to the U.Ok. and could be chairing an emergency “COBRA” assembly — a gathering of senior officers to debate and reply to nationwide emergencies.
Emergency providers on the scene of a stabbing incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue, in Crumpsall, Manchester, England, Thursday Oct. 2, 2025.
Peter Byrne/AP
Starmer additionally mentioned that further police are being deployed to synagogues throughout the nation. “We’ll do all the pieces to maintain our Jewish neighborhood protected,” he added.
The web site of the synagogue the place the incident occurred listed Yom Kippur-related occasions for each Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan mentioned in a submit to X he was “horrified by the violent assault at a synagogue in Manchester.”
Armed cops speak with members of the neighborhood close to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, on October 2, 2025.
Paul Currie/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Khan mentioned he had spoken together with his counterpart in Manchester and Residence Secretary Shabana Mahmood, “and want to reassure Londoners that the Met Police are stepping up patrols in Jewish communities and synagogues throughout London.”
King Charles III and his spouse, Queen Camilla, mentioned in an announcement they had been “deeply shocked and saddened to study of the horrific assault in Manchester, particularly on such a big day for the Jewish neighborhood.”
“Our ideas and prayers are with all these affected by this appalling incident and we tremendously respect the swift actions of the emergency providers,” the assertion mentioned.
The Israeli Embassy within the U.Ok. additionally condemned the assault, saying in an announcement, “That such an act of violence ought to be perpetrated on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, in a spot of prayer and neighborhood, is abhorrent and deeply distressing. … The ideas and prayers of the folks of Israel are with the victims, their households, and your complete Jewish neighborhood at this tough time.”
ABC Information’ Victoria Beaule and Zoe Magee contributed to this report.
