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At least two people were killed and several others were injured after a car plowed into pedestrians and stabbed a security guard at a synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays, Thursday (October 1), NBC News reports.
The Greater Manchester Police Department confirmed that " two people have died following the major incident outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, Middleton Road, Crumpsall" in a post shared on its X account. The department also confirmed that the suspect was shot by responding officers and is also believed to have died, though it "cannot currently be confirmed due to safety issues surrounding suspicious items on this person," with bomb disposal officers present at the scene.
Three other individuals were reported to be "in a serious condition." A video shared online and verified by NBC News shows a man lying on the floor outside the synagogue with two officers pointing guns at him as he attempts to get up, at which point an officer fires a single round and later shows a man wearing a yarmulke lying in a pool of blood nearby.
Police said the large number of worshippers were kept inside the synagogue after the incident took place but were later allowed to exit. The department said witnesses saw "a car being driven toward members of the public" and one man being stabbed outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, which is located in an area with a large Jewish population.
The man "believed to be the offender" was reportedly shot by police minutes later, with the department claiming the incident could've been worse had a member of the synagogue not stopped the suspect from entering the building.
“We are grateful to the member of the public whose quick response to what they witnessed allowed our swift action, and as a result the offender was prevented from entering the synagogue,” a spokesperson said in a news release.