Head of Counter Terrorism Policing Laurence Taylor said the evidence before officers on Thursday morning’s attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester, England has led them to conclude that it may have been a terrorist act. The senior police officer said in a statement this afternoon: “based on what we know, counter terrorism policing has declared this as a terrorist incident. Our specialist teams are now leading the investigation into what happened.”
Taylor said counter-terror police were working with local Manchester police and the national security services.
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 2: A police bomb disposal officer is seen near the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, where multiple were injured after stabbing and car attack on Yom Kippur, on October 2, 2025 in the Crumpsall suburb of Manchester, England. Greater Manchester Police said they were called to the scene shortly after 9:30 AM, when a witness said the assailant drove a car at people and then stabbed someone. Police then shot the suspected attacker. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
The terror declaration came as the casualty figure for the attack was again revised upwards. Two members of the UK Jewish community have died, and four people are critically injured and receiving treatment at hospital. In addition to those victims, the alleged perpetrator himself also died at the scene, having been shot dead by armed police.
Taylor also stated that two arrests had been made in relation to the attack.
Hours after the attack, no information about the identity of the suspect or his motivations has been made public by police. Taylor said in his statement that while officers believe they know who the suspect is, “safety reasons at the scene” have prevented a formal identification taking place quickly. This is likely in reference to the deceased being thought to have worn a potential bomb vest, meaning after he was shot he has only been approached by army bomb-disposal robots.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson confirmed the alleged attacker had worn a garment “which had the appearance of an explosive device” and that he had been shot dead within seven minutes of the first calls going through to police.
Armed police officers at the scene near the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, where two people died in a suspected terror attack by a man who was shot dead by police. Picture date: Thursday October 2, 2025. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Images via Getty Images)
While the alleged attacker was neutralised quickly, Manchester activated a Plato alert meaning it was instantly being treated as a major incident and emergency services would step up to deal with a “marauding terror attack” situation”. It is not clear whether their activation was automatic because of this classification or if they were summoned, but Britain’s Special Air Service elite Army response unit flew to the scene by helicopter and circled the area in case an interdiction was required.
Counter-terror boss Taylor said nationally, police were being deployed for additional protection and reassurance. He said: “UK policing is mobilising, and it is mobilising fast. Police forces are stepping up patrols across the country at Synagogues and Jewish sites and more widely to provide reassurance to all those communities who have been affected by this incident.”
Police “ask the public to remain vigilant” and to watch out for suspicious behaviour in their own communities, he said.
As earlier reported, two people were killed and several more injured when a man drove a car into pedestrians outside a Synagogue in a leafy north-Manchester suburb. The alleged attacker exited the vehicle and started stabbing people, including a Synagogue security guard, but was locked out of the building. Police praised the bravery and presence of mind of those at the Synagogue for acting quickly to shut and lock the door.
The suspect was attempting to use his knife to stab his way through a window to gain access to the interior of the Synagogue when police arrived.
Armed officers ordered the man, who eyewitness footage showed to be a heavily bearded male wearing black clothes, to surrender but he refused, leading them to apparently shoot-to-neutralise. Moments later the man attempted to get up and possibly to interact with his suspicious-looking-vest, and officers opened fire again. He died at the scene.
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