User:Hassocks5489, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Two people have been killed in a car ramming and stabbing attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall neighbourhood of north Manchester on Thursday, October 2, 2025.
The incident happened on a day the members of the Jewish community were observing Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Operatives from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) raced to the scene shortly after 9:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) following an emergency call.
The distress call recounted that a car rammed into pedestrians, and the driver leapt out using his knife against a security guard who approached him.
Police operatives responded to the assault at 9:38 a.m. and killed a man believed to be the aggressor.
It is not clear if the suspect died. A bomb disposal unit was deployed to the scene due to suspicious items found on the body of the suspect.
A total of two people lost their lives in the incident, while three others sustained serious injuries due to a combination of the vehicle and stab wounds.
The police immediately activated Operation Plato, the national guidance for responding to a “marauding terrorist attack,” mobilising a coordinated, multi-agency effort.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “appalled by the attack”. He remarked that its timing on Yom Kippur makes it even more horrific.
The Prime Minister aborted his engagement at an EU summit in Denmark to return to London to chair a COBRA emergency committee meeting.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, called it a “serious incident”. He assured members of the public that the was over.
He thanked the police and other security operatives at the scene for their quick action.
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