Manchester synagogue attacker pledged allegiance to Islamic State group, police say

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.

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.