One of the two victims who died in the terrorist attack on a British synagogue on Yom Kippur was accidentally shot by the Manchester police while they hurried to submit the attacker, British officials confirmed Friday.
Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed on Thursday after the 35-year-old British citizen born in Syria, Jihad Al Shamie, plowed his car in pedestrians and then fired at least one other victim.
The incident resulted in two killed and four others injured.
Emergency services on the site of a stabbing in Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue, in Crumpsall, Manchester, England, Thursday 2 October 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
Who is the British citizen of Syrian origin accused of terror attack of the synagogue?
But according to Chief Constable from Greater Manchester Police, Sir Stephen Watson, already Shamie, who was killed on the spot by the British police, turned out not to have worn a gun.
“It therefore follows that this injury subject to further forensic examination, unfortunately may have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgent required action that my officers took to end this cruel attack,” said Watson in a press update on Friday.
Of the three injured victims who are still being treated medically, one of them also suffered a Scot wound.
Watson-Die did not confirm whether it was the Scottish wound that killed one of the victims on Thursday that the wound that was hit by a firearm was “merciful” not life threatening.
“It is believed that both victims were close to each other behind the Synagogue door, while worshipers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining access,” said the chief commissioner.
Two women cuddle firmly, one crying, near the attack scene of Manchester Synagogue, on October 2, 2025. (Christopher Furlong/Getty images)
UK Synagogue Attack and Hamas hostage crisis underlines deadly Yom Kippur
The motive behind the attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue does not continue to be confirmed, although it comes as crimes that focus on Jews in the UK have risen drastically after the attacks of 7 October 2023 on Israel by Hamas, and the subsequent war in the Gaza strip.
The police chief said he was aware that there were pro-Palestinian protests in Manchester where the police would be present, but he urged the locals to consider “whether this is really the right time”.
“You could do the responsible and sensitive thing and on this occasion you could not protest in a way that will probably add to the trauma that is currently experienced by our Jewish community,” Watson added.
British officials, including the Minister of the Interior Shabana Mahmood and Prime Minister Kier Starmer, drove to their fellow citizens and the tragic events that took place on the holiest day of the Jewish faith.
Emergency services accompany people in safety after a car and mesterreur attack outside Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue in Manchester, England, Thursday 2 October 2025. (Christopher Furlong/Getty images)
Click here to get the Fox News app
“Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about suffering in Gaza – but a minority has used these protests as a pretext for firing anti -Semitic tropics,” Starmer wrote in The Jewish Chronicle.
“I insist on protesting this weekend to recognize and respect the grief of British Jews this week. This is a moment of mourning. It is not time to burn tension and cause further pain,” he added.
The Manchester police could not be reached immediately for this report.
