At least four people have been injured after a car ramming and stabbing attack outside a synagogue in Manchester, northern England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Police said they were called to an incident in Crumpsall, north of the city, where a car was driven at members of the public and a man was stabbed. The suspect was shot by firearms officers.
“Police were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, on Middleton Road, Crumpsall, at 9.31am by a member of the public, stating he had witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public, and one man had been stabbed,” the force said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by Thursday’s attack, and thanked emergency services for their response.
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” he said in a post on X. “My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected.”
Starmer will fly back to the UK early from a security meeting of European leaders in the Danish capital, Copenhagen, to chair a meeting led by the UK government’s Cobra committee – a cross-departmental group convened in situations of national emergency – according to the PA Media news agency.
Manchester’s Mayor Andy Burnham urged members of the public to avoid the area, after the “serious incident.”
“Obviously what we would all want to recognize is how people in our Jewish community will be feeling right now,” he told BBC Radio Manchester.
“I can only imagine how people are feeling when they hear this news, the fear that that will bring,” added Burnham.
This is a developing story and will be updated.