Two victims in the synagogue incident in Manchester, England, were hit by police shots, one of them died. These two men were not shot due to the attack of the perpetrators, but because they were victims of the ‘wrong target’ of the British police when trying to paralyze the perpetrators of the attack.
Attack event
A British man of Syrian descent is known to crash his car to pedestrians. Then the perpetrators stabbed several people outside the synagogue of Heaton Park’s Hebrew Church in Manchester. The attack occurred on Yom Kippur’s day, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, on Thursday (2/10).
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The possibility of ‘wrong target’
The Greater Manchester police chief, Steve Watson said that the suspected attacker, who was shot dead by armed officers at the scene, did not carry firearms, even though one of those who died suffered a gunshot wound.
Watson also revealed that they might accidentally shoot two victims, including one person who died. This happened in their efforts to paralyze the perpetrators of attacks in a synagogue.
“Therefore, this injury may occur as a tragic and unexpected consequence of the actions that are needed by my officers to end this cruel attack,” Watson said in a statement, reported by the AFP news agency, Saturday (4/10/2025).
The perpetrators of the attack wore a vest that looked like an explosive device, but the police then made sure the vest could not cause an explosion.
Watson said that one other congregation was believed to have suffered a life wound that was not life -threatening, and it was estimated that the two victims were close to the synagogue door, while the congregation tried to prevent the attacker from entering.
The British police have identified the perpetrators of the attack as Jihad Al-Shamie, 35 years old, and said they did not find a record that he had been referred to the government’s anti-radicalization program.
In a statement on Facebook, the Al-Shamie family said that they were “very surprised” and wanted to distance themselves from what they called “heinous actions” he did.
The British government promised to double its efforts in overcoming antisemitism in the midst of the Jewish community that were shaken by the attack.
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(zap/wnv)
