From the Guardian, is this report. (I removed the bolding for readability.)
There is much more at the link.
This is obviously a developing story right now.
One should also note Yom Kippur runs from sunset on 1 October 2025 to nightfall on 2 October 2025 and is considered the holiest day of the year.
That is shocking! I looked up that part of the city and it seems like the people and place are usually nice overall.
Latest report I saw on CNN said the police confronted the attacker and told him to surrender, he refused, and they shot him dead.
Still too early to say anything with assurance other than it’s a damned good thing the assailant didn’t have a gun.
Armed police shot him 7 minutes after first 999 (our 911) call - not bad response from a generally unarmed police service.
It appears that police thought the perp may have been wearing a
suicide vest. It has been confirmed that it was “not viable”.
Britain’s Jewish community has been living under threat for some time. Since 2014 there have been 9 foiled terror plots against Jews, coming from both Islamist and far-right extremists. Synagogues have community security in stab-proof vests, and as you can see from the photos, security shutters were installed in the Manchester synagogue targeted by the attacker - and did their job. This has, in all honesty, not been taken seriously enough by British society as a whole.
Sadly, the latest news is that one of the dead victims was shot by police gunfire, and one other victim was hit and hospitalised. Both were standing close together behind the synagogue door. The attacker appeared to be armed with explosives (although these turned out not to be viable) and by all accounts when the police arrived there were - as you would expect - frantic calls for them to shoot him.
It is more alarming than not that this was a pretty inept attack. The attacker failed to get into the synagogue, failed to successfully manufature a bomb, and it seems took just one life by his own efforts - one is too many but on his own terms we can be fairly sure this was a failure. That makes it no less terrifying, no less shocking for Britain’s Jews (although many felt this was inevitable) but conjures the spectre of what will happen when a competent attacker gets through.
The attacker called himself Jihad Al-Shamie. He was a naturalised British citizen of Syrian heritage. It seems fairly clear that his anti-semitism stemmed from Islamism. His family have condemned the attack:
"The news from Manchester regarding the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue has been a profound shock to us. The Al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act, which targeted peaceful, innocent civilians.
"We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.
"We kindly request that all media outlets respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time and refrain from using this tragic event in any context that does not reflect the truth.
“May God have mercy on the innocent victims, and we pray for the swift recovery of the injured.”
The armed response units are basically crack troops who don’t have to bother themselves with community policing.
One was a civilian
Dunno what to say. Can’t argue with the “crack troops” - they ended the London Bridge attacks where bar patrons were throwing chairs and a cop faced a rabid terrorist with a knife with a baton.
Why?