The Manchester synagogue attacker was a British citizen of Syrian descent who came to the UK as a small child and had not previously been on the radar of police or MI5.
Jihad al Shamie, 35, was shot dead by armed officers seven minutes after launching a car and knife attack while wearing what appeared to be a vest with an explosive device, which was later found to be fake.
Manchester attack latest: Police on ‘high alert’ across country
Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed after he drove at people outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, in Crumpsall, before stabbing a man.
One of the victims killed in yesterday’s attack was shot mistakenly by officers during their attempts to bring the attacker under control, Greater Manchester Police believe.
Three others remain in hospital with serious injuries.
Three people – two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s – have been arrested on suspicion of the preparation or commission of acts of terrorism.
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Manchester attacker ‘did not stand out’
But Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said it is “too early” to say if there was a terrorist cell behind the attack on Thursday morning, which took place on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day.
She said al Shamie, who is of Syrian descent, came to the UK as a “small child” and was naturalised as a British citizen in the mid-2000s.
The home secretary also said he was not known to the security services or police and had not been referred to the government’s Prevent anti-radicalisation scheme.
Asked about the attacker’s name on LBC, which presenter Nick Ferrari translated as “struggle of the Syrian”, she said: “I was very surprised to discover that name myself.
“Actually, as a Muslim, I’ve never heard someone being called Jihad, but it is the name that he was born with – that has always been his name.”
Police presence at a property in Langley Crescent, Prestwich.
Pic: PA
Al Shamie is believed to have lived in a council house in a quiet cul-de-sac in Langley Crescent, Prestwich, around two miles from the scene.
Videos obtained by Sky News show armed police, with a dog and a chainsaw, raiding the address at around 3.30pm on Thursday.
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In a post on Facebook, apparently from his family, his relatives said the attack “has been a profound shock to us”.
“The al Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act, which targeted peaceful, innocent civilians,” they said.
“We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.”
Seen lifting weights
One of al Shamie’s neighbours said: “We used to see him out in the garden working out, doing weights, press-ups.
“He used to change his clothes. One day he would be wearing the full gown, to the floor and the next jeans and pyjama bottoms.”
Geoff Haliwell, 72, told Sky News the property used to be on his window cleaning round and he believed the al Shamie family, including his mother, father and brothers, had lived there for around 20 years.
“There’s no way I could’ve thought they were in any way involved in anything like this,” he said, describing the family as “nice people”.
He said he had also seen Jihad al Shamie use benches to work out and said he would sometimes wear western clothes and at other times “traditional” Syrian dress, but showed no signs of radicalisation.
“[He was a] smashing lad to talk to, just the same as everyone else. He didn’t stand out in any way,” he added.
Another neighbour, Kate McLeish, said she thought al Shamie was “an odd guy” and said he used to park his battered black Kia “quite badly on the road”.
The Syrian British Consortium, an organisation representing Syrians in the UK, said no one in its community networks has been able to identify him or confirm knowing him personally.
