Who Is Jihad Al-Shamie? What We Know After Manchester Synagogue Attack
3rd October 2025
The incident unfolded outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Authorities believe Al-Shamie drove his car into worshippers before exiting the vehicle and launching a knife attack. Two men were killed and three others injured.
Officers initially reported that the attacker appeared to be wearing an explosive vest, but later confirmed it was a non-viable device, reports the Mirror. Now more details of Al-Shamie have emerged, here is what we know so far.
According to the PA news agency, Al-Shamie was a British citizen of Syrian descent. He arrived in the UK as a young child and was granted citizenship in 2006. Security services confirmed his name had not previously appeared in police or intelligence databases, and he had not been referred to the government’s Prevent anti-radicalisation programme.