ReutersFour people have been injured in a car ramming and stabbing attack at a synagogue in Manchester, with the suspect shot by police.
The incident came on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar.
Here is what we know so far.
What happened?
Police responded at 09:31 BST on Thursday to reports of a car driving towards members of the public, and a man stabbed. The man who was stabbed is believed to be a security guard.
The incident happened at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall area in the north of the city.
By 09:37, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had declared a major incident.
The force said in a statement: “Shots were fired by Greater Manchester Police firearms officers at 09:38.
“One man has been shot, believed to be the offender.”
The suspect is believed to be dead, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said.
The North West Ambulance Service confirmed that a major incident had been declared and that it had deployed staff to the scene.
How many people were harmed?
Paramedics arrived at the scene to find four people injured.
Police said the injuries were a result of the both the vehicle and stab wounds.
Another man has been shot, who police believe is the offender. His condition is not confirmed but Burnham said he is believed to be dead.
Is the incident ongoing?
Burnham said “the immediate danger appears to be over”.
But members of the public are being warned to avoid the area while police deal with the incident.
Police said they declared “Plato” moments after first hearing about the incident.
Operation Plato is a set of responses by the emergency services to large-scale incidents including “marauding terrorist attacks”.
What is Yom Kippur?
Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish religious calendar. Large numbers of people tend to attend synagogues and fast.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was “appalled” by the attack.
He said in a statement: “The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific.
“My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services and all the first responders.”
He will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee in London this afternoon, flying home early from a European summit in Denmark to do so.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told the it looked like “an outrageous attack on the Jewish community on their holiest day” – calling it “vile and disgusting”.
