One of the victims killed in the Manchester synagogue attack on Thursday suffered gunshot wounds — possibly from shots fired by police officers on the scene. Police added that one of those injured and currently receiving treatment in hospital also suffered a gunshot wound. Both people believed to have been shot were behind the synagogue doors.
The suspect Jihad Al Shamie, who was neutralised by the cops, didn’t carry a firearm and it is believed that the police personnel shot the late person during their attempts to bring the attacker under control, officers said on Friday in a statement.
“It is currently believed that the suspect, Jihad Al Shamie, was not in possession of a firearm and the only shots fired were from GMP’s Authorised Firearms Officer,” the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) statement said.
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“It follows therefore, that subject to further forensic examination, this injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end.”
Police on Friday identified the two men who were killed in a car and knife attack on a synagogue in northwest England on the holiest day of the Jewish year, as Britain’s chief rabbi said an unrelenting wave of antisemitism lay behind the crime.
Greater Manchester Police said local residents Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died in the attack on the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in the Manchester suburb of Crumpsall.
Three other people are hospitalised in serious condition.
Police shot and killed a suspect seven minutes after he rammed a car into pedestrians outside the synagogue on Thursday morning and then attacked them with a knife. He wore what appeared to be an explosives belt, which was found to be fake.
The assault took place as people gathered at the Orthodox synagogue on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement and the most solemn day in the Jewish calendar.
Jihad Al Shamie: Did Manchester Police shoot two believers during synagogue attack?
