Three people have died, including the attacker, in a car ramming and stabbing attack at a synagogue in Manchester, with the suspect shot by police.
The incident came on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar.
Police responded to reports of a car driving towards members of the public and a man stabbed at 09:31 BST on Thursday.
The man who was stabbed is believed to be a security guard.
The incident happened at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall area in Manchester’s north.
It is an area with a large Jewish community, about 4 miles (6km) from the city centre.
By 09:37, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had declared a major incident.
Police said they opened fire at 09:38 at one man, believed to be the offender, who died after being shot by officers.
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,” officers said, and have since been evacuated.
An eyewitness called Gareth Tonge, who was driving his delivery van near the scene, told the BBC he saw a man “bleeding out on the floor”.
He said he saw another man “laying on the floor” in front of a car, and could hear people shouting.
Mr Tonge, 39, from Bolton, said he saw another man with a knife “stabbing the window” of a nearby building “trying to get in”.
“Within seconds, the police arrived, they gave him a couple of warnings, he didn’t listen so they opened fire,” he explained, saying the man holding the knife then went down on the floor.
The man then “started getting back up and they [the police] shot him again”, Mr Tonge added – describing it as “nerve-racking” to witness.
The North West Ambulance Service confirmed that a major incident had been declared and that it had deployed staff to the scene.
BBC
