One of the two men killed in Thursday’s attack outside a synagogue in Manchester was struck by police gunfire during the effort to stop the assailant, the local police chief said on Friday.
“One of the deceased victims appears to have sustained an injury consistent with a gunshot wound,” said Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Chief Stephen Wilson in a statement, adding “this injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end."
According to GMP, it is currently believed that the suspect was not in possession of a firearm and the only shots fired were from GMP’s Authorised Firearms Officers as they worked to prevent the offender from entering the synagogue.
The men who died in the attack have been named by police as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66.
Attack during Yom Kippur
The attack occurred outside the Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, a northern district of the Manchester metropolitan area, during Yom Kippur, a major Jewish holiday. Three others were seriously wounded in the incident.
The attacker drove his car into people gathered outside the synagogue before exiting the vehicle and assaulting them with a knife. He was subsequently shot dead by police officers on the scene.
Authorities identified him as Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British man of Syrian descent. Police reported that he had never been flagged by the national extremism prevention programme.
On Friday morning, Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the Heaton Park synagogue, accompanied by his wife, Victoria. He spoke briefly to police officers stationed outside the synagogue, where a significant security presence remains in place.
Manchester is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the UK, with over 28,000 residents, according to 2021 data from the Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
