The Manchester synagogue attacker was repeatedly shot after running “aggressively” towards armed police while carrying a knife and wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt, an inquest has heard.
Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot minutes after launching his car and knife attack on Heaton Park synagogue in the city’s Crumpsall area on 2 October.
Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed, while another three men were hospitalised.
An inquest into Al-Shamie’s death has been opened and adjourned at Manchester Coroner’s Court.
The court heard he was identified by fingerprints and “secondary evidence” at the scene, including his mobile phone and car.
Inquests into the two victims, which opened on Wednesday, heard Mr Cravitz was stabbed while Mr Daulby died from a gunshot wound to the chest fired by police.
Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born UK citizen, began his rampage by driving his Kia Picanto at security staff and the external gates of the synagogue as worshippers were gathering for Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews.
He then tried to storm the synagogue, wearing a fake suicide belt, before being shot dead.
Det Ch Supt Lewis Hughes told the hearing that armed officers responding to the call “discharged several rounds” at Al-Shamie as “he ran towards them aggressively while carrying a knife and wearing what clearly presented as a suicide belt”.
He added: “Al-Shamie sustained multiple bullet wounds and collapsed to the ground.”
