Terrorist kills 2 outside Manchester, UK, synagogue on Yom Kippur
Police killed the attacker
Police and ambulance services seen near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester, England, Oct. 2, 2025. (Paul Currie / AFP / via Getty Images)
By Ron Kampeas October 2, 2025
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A man using his car and a knife killed two people and wounded several others in what police said was a terrorist an attack on congregants attending Yom Kippur services in Manchester.
Reports said the man rammed congregants entering Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation on Thursday in the northwest English city, which has Britain’s largest Jewish population outside of London. He emerged from the car and started stabbing people. Congregants and synagogue security kept him from entering the synagogue.
The two killed have been identified as Jewish. Another four people were hospitalized with wounds. Three were in serious condition.
Police arriving at the scene shot dead the man, who appeared to be wearing an explosive device.
“Based on what we know, counterterrorism police have declared this a terrorist incident,” Laurence Taylor, Scotland Yard’s national director for counterterrorism policing, said at a press conference outside the London headquarters of Britain’s national police.
Police reportedly have identified the attacker and have arrested two others believed to have been involved in the attack.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer cut short his attendance of a meeting of European leaders in Copenhagen to chair an emergency meeting after the attack. “We will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe,” he said before his departure.
“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” Starmer wrote on X. “My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders.”
He also announced that extra police officers were being deployed to synagogues across England.
The Community Security Trust, a British antisemitism watchdog, has reported soaring incidents of antisemitism since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas massacres in Israel, which launched the current Gaza war.
Violent antisemitic attacks have also been on the rise in the United States, with deadly attacks earlier this year on the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington and at a vigil in Boulder, Colorado, for hostages held by Hamas.
Michael Masters, who directs the Secure Community Network, a security consultancy for the U.S. Jewish community told the Forward that the Manchester attack did not trigger any heightened alerts for American Jews, because institutions were already on high alert for the High Holidays.
“Given current conditions, no event is required to elevate the already high threat level or our preparedness,” Masters said in a text message. “SCN has been and will continue to be in contact with local partners in the U.K. and law enforcement here, domestically.”
JTA contributed to this report.
