Deadly Car Ramming and Stabbing at U.K. Synagogue Is Declared Terrorist Attack

An attacker rammed a car into people outside a synagogue in Manchester, England, then went on a stabbing spree on Thursday, killing two people in what the police called an act of terrorism on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

The police said officers responded within minutes and shot and killed the attacker, whom they identified as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent. Though the police described the assault as a terrorist attack, they also said that counterterrorism investigators were still “working to understand the motivation.”

Three other people were arrested, the police said, on suspicion of commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism in connection with the assault outside the synagogue, the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation.

The police did not name those arrested, in accordance with privacy rules, but said they were two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s. British officials said late Thursday that al-Shamie had entered the United Kingdom as a “very young child” and was granted British citizenship in 2006.

Stephen Watson, the chief constable of the Greater Manchester Police, said the attacker, who seriously wounded three other people, was wearing a vest the constable described as having the “appearance of an explosive device.” Investigators later determined it was not capable of causing an explosion.

The violence in Manchester comes amid heightened fears across Europe and the United States for the safety of Jews amid a rise in antisemitism related to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain called the attack “absolutely shocking” and described the assailant as “a vile individual who wanted to attack Jews because they are Jews.” He cut short a trip to Copenhagen, where he had been attending a conference of European leaders, to lead a meeting of a government committee that handles national emergencies.

Mr. Starmer said Britain had been hit by a “hatred that is rising once again.”

The attack alarmed the Jewish community in Manchester, a multicultural city with large Jewish and Muslim populations, and prompted a surge in police protection at Jewish cultural and religious sites across the country.

With no access to their phones during the holiday, some members of the Jewish community in the immediate areas of the synagogue did not know what had happened until hours after the attack.

“It’s this new feeling among the community that this place is no longer safe,” said Chen Bass, 27, a mother of two who lives in the area. “We think we will see more and more of this.”

The mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, told the BBC that the Jewish community had “seen rising incidents of antisemitism over recent times” and that it had “been living with a higher state of anxiety because of the times that we’re living in.”

In a statement the police said that police records do not show that Mr. al-Shamie had previously been flagged to Britain’s official counterterrorism operation as a potential threat.

The authorities were conducting searches at two homes linked to the attacker and people arrested. One location was in Crumpsall, England, a short distance from the synagogue that was attacked. The other was in the town of Prestwich, about two miles from the scene.

Manchester, one of England’s biggest metropolitan areas, is home to the largest Jewish community in the country outside London, about 30,000 people. The area’s multiculturalism is the result of immigration from around the world.

Since the start of 2017, 19 other violent attacks in Britain were declared terrorism by the police or judges. Of those, 11 were classified as having an Islamist motive, five as right-wing and one as left-wing. In two of the attacks, the motive was unclear.

None of those attacks took place at synagogues, but over the past decade, Jewish people and places of worship in Britain have featured in several terrorist plots thwarted by security services. Some were planned by neo-Nazis, and others by supporters of the Islamic State terrorist group, officials said.

In May 2017, Manchester was the site of one of Britain’s deadliest terrorist attacks, when a supporter of the Islamic State detonated a powerful bomb among Ariana Grande fans while they were leaving a concert at Manchester Arena.

Twenty-two people were killed, and hundreds of others were injured. The suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, 22, had planned the attack with his younger brother, Hashem Abedi, who is serving a life sentence.

Images of Thursday’s assault quickly spread across social media, including the moment officers shot and killed the attacker.

Martin Hamer, a resident of Manchester who was driving through the neighborhood, initially thought there had been a traffic accident outside the synagogue. Then, he said, he saw the attacker trying to break into the synagogue through a window.

Officials said the episode could have been far deadlier if not for what Chief Constable Watson described as the “immediate bravery of security staff” who prevented the attacker from getting into the synagogue.

Osher Luftag, 18, who lives in the area, said the father of a friend had braced the doors of the synagogue from inside to prevent the attacker from entering.

Morning prayers had begun at 9, according to the synagogue’s website, and scores of people were inside. Yom Kippur, a solemn day focused on repentance and becoming closer to God, requires congregants to spend 25 hours fasting and praying.

“As we got nearer,” Mr. Hamer said in an interview, “we realized there was a guy dead on the floor and there was another guy fighting for his life in front of the car.” He captured the scene with his phone in a video that his daughter posted on Facebook.

The images showed two armed police officers with their rifles aimed at the attacker prone on the ground outside the synagogue, as a severely injured victim lay nearby. One of the officers yelled to people at the synagogue gates to move back, shouting: “He has a bomb! Go away!”

Moments later, the attacker appeared to be trying to get up, and the police fired at least one shot. The man fell back to the ground.

Condemnations of the day’s violence came from across the political spectrum in Britain and around the world.

Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party, wrote on social media that people were “murdered simply for being Jews.” Ms. Badenoch noted that the attack came on a day when Jews “ask themselves — where have we gone wrong in the past, and what do we need to do to be better in the future.”

Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, said in a social media post: “British Jews are now grasping the full extent of today’s terror attack at the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester. This is the day we hoped we would never see, but which deep down we knew would come.”

He added, “This not only an assault on the Jewish community, but an attack on the very foundations of humanity.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called the attack “barbaric” and said his nation “grieves with the Jewish community in the U.K.”

The U.S. ambassador to Britain, Warren Stephens, said that what happened was “sickening” and that it served as a “stark reminder of the rise of antisemitism and religious intolerance in our societies.”

Mr. Starmer, speaking from Downing Street, said, “To every Jewish person in this country, I also want to say this: I know how much fear you will be holding inside of you.”

He added, “Britain will come together to wrap our arms around your community and show you that Britain is a place where you and your family are safe, secure and belong.”

Reporting was contributed by Johnatan Reiss, Nader Ibrahim, Megan Specia, Mark Landler, Ali Watkins and Rylee Kirk.

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