The suspect behind last week’s deadly car and terrorist attack outside a Manchester synagogue is believed to have pledged allegiance to Islamic State, authorities said.
Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent, reportedly called emergency services to claim responsibility for the attack before pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.
“We have reviewed our systems and I can reiterate that Al-Shamie was never referred to the Prevent program nor otherwise known to Counter Terrorism Policing,” Deputy Chief Commissioner Rob Potts said on Wednesday.
NFL HOLDS MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR VICTIMS OF JOM KIPPUR TERROR ATTACK IN ENGLAND
Emergency services move people to safety after a terror attack involving a car and a knife outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, England, Thursday, October 2, 2025. Police said two people were killed and four others injured before armed officers shot the suspect. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
British police accidentally shot a victim as he rushed to stop the synagogue attacker
The Prevent program is a UK government initiative aimed at providing individuals vulnerable to radicalization with the right interventions to prevent them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.
Head of the Counter-Terrorism Police said Laurence Taylor on October 3 that although Al-Shamie was not known to the counter-terrorism team, he was out on bail at the time of the attack after being arrested on suspicion of rape.
Potts said police are now “more confident that he was influenced by extreme Islamic ideology; the 999 call forms part of this assessment.”
While Potts cited the call as evidence of Al-Shamie’s motivation, he emphasized that authorities needed to review all evidence collected to determine the motive behind the attack.
“This review is continuing and further drivers and motivations may be identified,” Potts added.
A police vehicle parked outside the Manchester Synagogue, where several people were killed on Yom Kippur in what police have declared a terrorist incident, in north Manchester, Britain, on October 5, 2025. (Hannah McKay/Reuters)
Al-Shamie was shot by police outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue after the attack in which he rammed a car into pedestrians before attacking them with a knife. The attacker was carrying what appeared to be an explosive device, but Potts called it a “hoax device” and said it was later assessed and confirmed as “non-viable.”
Two congregants, identified as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed in the attack, which occurred on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day.
Police later said it was likely that one of the two victims was accidentally shot by officers who rushed to stop the attack, as Al-Shamie was not carrying a gun. Reports indicate Daulby was the only one who could shoot.
Emergency services on the scene after a car and knife attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, England, on October 2, 2025. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)
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Potts told reporters on Wednesday that three people injured in the attack remain in hospital.
While police investigated whether Al-Shamie acted alone, police arrested three men and three women on suspicion of “committing, preparing and inciting acts of terrorism.” The Associated Press reported.
Those arrested have not been identified and police have not disclosed their possible links to Al-Shamie. The AP reported that a court on Saturday gave police five more days to detain four of the suspects, while two, a man and a woman, were released without further action.
