Emergency personnel work at the scene after a reported attack in which a car was driven at pedestrians and one person was stabbed near a synagogue in north Manchester, Britain, on October 2, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Three people were killed on Thursday (October 2, 2025) following an attack at a synagogue in Manchester, including the suspected perpetrator, who was shot by the United Kingdom police. There was no ongoing risk to the public following the incident, the police added.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the attack so far.
The incident took place as people gathered at the synagogue on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar. The attack, which left two dead and three seriously wounded, had been declared a “terrorist incident”, added Laurence Taylor, assistant commissioner in counterterrorism policing at London’s Metropolitan Police force.
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 am 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.
Shots were fired by firearms officers minutes later, police said. “One man has been shot, believed to be the offender,” it added.
Police 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.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was appalled by the attack and additional police officers would be deployed at synagogues across the U.K.. He was flying home early from a summit of European leaders in Copenhagen, Denmark, to chair a meeting of the government’s emergency committee.
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Mr. Starmer said on the X platform.
Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors antisemitism in the UK, 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.
London Police boost patrols near synagogues
Police said on Thursday (October 2, 2025) it had deployed additional officers around synagogues and Jewish community sites in London, following a deadly attack at a synagogue in Manchester earlier in the day.
London’s Metropolitan Police said there was no indication of an increased threat to the capital but had taken precautionary measures.
“While there is nothing to suggest an increased threat to London, we have deployed additional resources to the areas around synagogues, other Jewish community venues and in those boroughs with significant Jewish populations,” it said in a post on X.
(With inputs from AP, Reuters)
Published – October 02, 2025 03:41 pm IST
