Alan Levy described the attacker on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue trying each door in turn, as congregants moved barricades from door to door to keep him out
One of the people who barricaded shut the door to the Manchester shul where a man attacked several people before being shot by police has described how the attacker tried to force his way into the synagogue.
Alan Levy was in the car park outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall when 35-year-old Jihad al-Shamie crashed his car into the security gates.
“I was there when he crashed his car into the synagogue gates and ran down the security guard that was there and attacked a volunteer security guard and tried to gain access into the synagogue,” Mr Levy told Sky News.
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Mr Levy then ran inside and joined other congregants in barricading all the doors to stop the attacker from getting in.
“He was shoulder-charging the doors trying to get in,” he said.
“He was throwing plant pots at the glass. He was using a knife to try and get in. These brave men basically saved the community from further harm.
“All I was thinking was ‘we’ve got to keep these doors closed’.
“He was trying each door in turn. When we realised which door he was going to, we moved doors so there was more pressure on the doors to keep them closed.”
Flowers are left outside the Manchester synagogue, where three people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident (Photo: REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja)
Mr Levy’s son, Marc, said it was only when he saw his father on television that he knew he had not been harmed in the attack, and that “it’s impossible to articulate the worry and concern” when he didn’t know whether his family was safe or not.
“I first knew that there was an incident when my phone started lighting up repeatedly and I realised that there was an attack on my synagogue,” he said.
“It’s a place where all my childhood memories of worshipping… pretty much going there throughout my whole life.
“I knew at that time that my father would have been on security at that time, as he is every morning, given that him and his friends are some of the first people who arrive.”
Melvin Cravitz, 66, who died along with Adrian Daulby, 53, during the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue attack in Crumpsall, Manchester (Photo: Family handout/PA Wire)
Two people were killed in Thursday’s attack, one of whom was shot dead by police as they killed the perpetrator.
The victims have been named as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, who both attended the synagogue, and three men remain in hospital.
Al-Shamie was shot by police seven minutes after the first 999 call was made, as they had initially believed him to be wearing an explosive device.
Al-Shamie was granted British citizenship at the age of 16, having entered the UK from Syria with his family as a young child, and grew up in Crumpsall before moving to Prestwich.
He was on bail over a suspected rape, but had not been a person of interest for counter-terrorism teams.
Police are questioning two men, aged 30 and 32, and a woman, 61, all arrested in Prestwich, and a 46-year-old woman arrested in Farnworth.
Two other people, an 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man who were arrested in Farnworth, were released with no further action on Saturday night.
On Saturday, police arrested 493 people over pro-Palestine protests in London.
Politicians had called for the protests to be cancelled in the wake of the Manchester attack, while protesters responded that it was anti-semitic to blame all Jewish people for the actions of the Israeli government.