Six minutes of terror Holiest of days turns to fear, confusion and horror

Worshippers had arrived early for a special morning service at Heaton Park Shul in north Manchester.

- Josh Halliday North of England editor

It was Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, and rabbi Daniel Walker was leading prayers in his long white robes. By 9.31am, they were stained by blood.

As people made their way to the synagogue, they saw a small black car being driven erratically before it crashed into the building gates. At first, some thought the driver had suffered a heart attack. But within seconds he had jumped out of the vehicle, dressed in black, and had started stabbing those nearby.

It was “a rampage”, said one witness. An elderly man lay motionless and bleeding at the entrance of the shul. Another victim lay crumpled beneath the car bonnet. In the courtyard, the attacker appeared to be trying to break into the synagogue, stabbing and slashing at the windows as worshippers barricaded the doors.

Within six minutes, the knifeman was on the floor after being shot by armed officers.

As he was lying there, terrified passersby could see three white objects strapped to his waist. “He’s got a bomb!” shouted one man, as those inside the synagogue stared, terrified, from the windows above. “Shoot him!”

The attacker then tried to sit up. “Shoot him!” a witness shouted again. One of the officers discharged a final, fatal shot.

In just six minutes, the assailant had brought terror to the Jewish community on their holiest day. Two people had been killed and a further four remained in a serious condition in hospital. It was thanks to the bravery of the worshippers, police later said, that the suspect was kept out of the building.

By 9.37 am, Greater Manchester police had declared a major incident and triggered Operation Plato, the plan for a marauding terror attack. Army bomb disposal units raced to the scene as police reinforcements were called in from Wales and other forces.