Manchester synagogue attacker pledged allegiance to Islamic State group,
police say
[October 09, 2025]
By PAN PYLAS
LONDON (AP) — The assailant in last week’s attack on a synagogue in the
northwest of England that left two congregants dead pledged allegiance
to the Islamic State group, police said Wednesday.
The attacker, Jihad Al-Shamie, called emergency dispatchers during his
deadly attack on Oct. 2. to express his commitment to the terror group,
Counter Terrorism Policing North West said in a statement.
Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police outside the Heaton Park
Congregation Synagogue in Manchester after he rammed a car into
pedestrians, attacked them with a knife and tried to force his way into
the building.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said that minutes after Greater
Manchester Police were alerted to the attack and as firearms officers
were making their way to the scene, Al-Shamie called 999 — the U.K.'s
emergency phone number — claiming responsibility for the attack.
“He also pledged allegiance to Islamic State,” Potts said.
Congregation members Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died in
the attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.
Police say Daulby was accidentally shot by an armed officer as he and
other congregants barricaded the synagogue to block Al-Shamie from
entering. Three other men remain hospitalized with serious injuries.
“This has been a week of deep trauma and mourning for the Jewish
community at a time when they should have been observing one of the
holiest periods in the calendar of their faith,” Potts said.
Police have revealed that Al-Shamie was on bail over an alleged rape at
the time of the attack, but hadn’t been charged. However, police have
said he had never been referred to the authorities for exhibiting
extremist views.
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A man stands next to flowers for the victims of a bombing at
St. Ann's Square in central Manchester, England, May 26, 2017. (AP
Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
Potts said that “at this stage of our investigation, we are more
confident that he was influenced by extreme Islamist ideology. The
999 call forms part of this assessment.”
As police work to determine whether or not the attacker acted alone,
they have arrested three men and three women in the greater
Manchester area on suspicion of the “commission, preparation and
instigation of acts of terrorism."
A court on Saturday granted police five more days to hold four of
the suspects: men ages 30 and 32, and women ages 46 and 61. An
18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man were released over the
weekend with no further action, and two further releases are planned
for later Wednesday, police said.
Police haven’t identified those arrested or disclosed their links to
Al-Shamie.
The attack has devastated Britain’s Jewish community and intensified
debate about the line between criticism of Israel and antisemitism.
Recorded antisemitic incidents in the U.K. have risen sharply since
Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing campaign
against Hamas in Gaza, according to Community Security Trust, a
charity that provides advice and protection for British Jews.
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