The Kabul Tribune (KT) — British police said Friday that officers accidentally shot one of the victims killed during an attack on a synagogue in Manchester, as well as another worshipper who was injured, while trying to stop an assailant who appeared to be wearing an explosive belt.
Two men, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were
killed Thursday when a British man of Syrian descent drove his car into
pedestrians and began stabbing people outside the Heaton Park Hebrew
Congregation during Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
The attacker, identified as Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was shot
dead by police at the scene. Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Steve
Watson said al-Shamie was not carrying a firearm, but one of those killed had
suffered a gunshot wound.
“It follows therefore this injury may have been sustained as
a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my
officers to bring this vicious attack to an end,” Watson said in a statement.
He added that another worshipper suffered a
non-life-threatening gunshot wound and that both victims were believed to have
been near the synagogue’s entrance as congregants tried to block the attacker
from entering.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, the police
watchdog, said it had launched an investigation into the incident.
Authorities said al-Shamie was not known to Counter
Terrorism Policing and had no record of referral to the government’s
anti-radicalization program. He did, however, have a prior criminal record,
including a recent arrest for rape, after which he was released on bail.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of
Counter Terrorism Policing, said late Friday that investigators believe
al-Shamie may have been influenced by extremist Islamist ideology, but
cautioned that determining the full circumstances “will take time.”
“We have now arrested three further people — one man and two
women, aged between 18 and their mid-40s,” Taylor said. “This brings the number
of people in custody arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation and
instigation of acts of terrorism to six.”
The government on Friday vowed to intensify efforts to
combat antisemitism and protect places of worship, as police across the country
increased patrols around synagogues and Jewish community centers.
