Police have identified the Islamist terrorist who killed two people at a Manchester synagogue in a car and knife attack.
Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, a British national of Syrian descent, was shot dead by armed officers minutes after he targeted Heaton Park Synagogue on Thursday morning.
It is understood he entered the United Kingdom as a young child, before being given British citizenship in 2006.
Two men aged in their 30s and a woman in her 60s have been arrested on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack, police added.
The horror began at 9.31 am when Al-Shamie – who is yet to be formally identified rammed into people with a car before stabbing a man outside the synagogue.
The incident, which took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, claimed the lives of two Jewish men and left three others gravely wounded.
Police said officers were ‘working to understand the motivation behind the attack’. Earlier, the Daily Mail exclusively revealed that the suspect was an Islamic terrorist.
Al-Shamie is not believed to have been the subject of an investigation, and his name has apparently not turned up in preliminary searches of police and security service records.
Further checks are being conducted to determine if any of his details are listed in the records of other investigations.
In a statement on Thursday evening, Greater Manchester Police said: ‘We are now able to confirm that, although formal identification is yet to take place, we believe the person responsible for today’s attacks is 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie.
‘He is a British citizen of Syrian descent.’
‘A suspicious device worn by the attacker during the incident has been assessed and was deemed not to be viable.
‘Based on what we currently know, our records do not show any previous Prevent referrals relating to this individual.’
The force confirmed that the two people who were killed in the attack were both men, although they have yet to be identified.
Three other men are presently in the hospital with serious injuries. One sustained a stab wound, and a second was hit by the car implicated in the attack.
Greater Manchester Police added: ‘We are working to formally identify those who have tragically been killed and provide support to their loved ones, in addition to the injured and the wider community.
‘We are working to understand the motivation behind the attack as the investigation continues.’
After a day of bloodshed, Sir Keir Starmer warned Britain faces a rising wave of antisemitism.
The PM gave a statement from 10 Downing Street where he hailed emergency services and security, saying they had ‘no doubt whatsoever prevented an even greater tragedy’.
Benjamin Netanyahu called the deadly rampage a ‘barbaric attack’ and said Israel was grieving with the Jewish community in Britain.
‘Our hearts are with the families of the murdered, and we pray for the swift recovery of the wounded,’ the Israeli Prime Minister said.
‘As I warned at the UN: weakness in the face of terrorism only brings more terrorism. Only strength and unity can defeat it.’
Rabbi Daniel Walker barricaded the entrance to the ‘packed’ Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, after it had come under the deadly attack.
He was hailed a ‘hero’ for calmly shutting the doors of the synagogue after the terrorist ‘started stabbing everyone he could get to’.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Chava Lewin said: ‘Rabbi Walker was incredibly calm, he shut the doors to the synagogue to stop him getting inside.
‘He barricaded everyone inside. He is a hero; this could have been even worse.’
Soon after police shot the man, Rabbi Walker was seen outside, his white kittel – the traditional robes worn by Jewish religious leaders – evidently clad in blood.
Worshipper Rob Kanter, 45, was in the barricaded synagogue and described how Rabbi Walker was providing as much pastoral support as possible.
He described the horrifying moment the Heaton Park Shul was put into lockdown – but said most of those inside were able to remain calm.
‘We knew there was a commotion because we had already made sure all of the doors and windows were shut,’ he said.
‘I would say the mood amongst our fellow congregants was very calm. Everyone deals with these things in their own way, but generally, everyone was very calm and dignified.’
He said the worshippers evacuated across Middleton Road to a nearby relief centre.
‘The rabbi was providing as much pastoral support in the circumstances as he could,’ he said.
‘We’ve obviously got to police quarters, and we continued to do part of the service, because at the end of the day, of course, it’s awkward and it’s difficult and people have got a multitude of emotions going on, but we carried on.
‘We did not do the whole service, but we did what we could in the circumstances.
‘Your mind’s on many things, but our Rabbi’s role was to try and say ‘yes, this is a terrible tragedy, but at the end of the day, we want to try where possible to remember today is the Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement’ and we did as much as we could as a group.’
Unfortunately, the UK has devolved into this, and we have lost our way, and our government have no care for its UK citizens, and it’s just going to get worse.
Under Keir Starmer, the UK has never been more divided.
How much more can the country take?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 
Were it not for Netanyahu and his puppet master ’Settlers’ this would not have happened … 2 more deaths to chalk up for that demented genocidal Israeli lunatic.
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