Manchester synagogue attack, police declare terrorist incident

Police declared a terrorist incident after two people were killed and three others were seriously injured when a man rammed a car into a crowd and stabbed people at an Orthodox synagogue.

LONDON — Police declared a terrorist incident after two people were killed and three others were seriously injured Thursday when a man rammed a car into a crowd and stabbed people at a synagogue in the northern English city of Manchester.

Worshippers were observing Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the head of counterterrorism policing, told reporters the attack had been declared a terrorist incident.

He said police fatally shot the suspect, who was later identified as Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent.

Two people were killed at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, and three others were in “serious condition,” he said.