7 MINUTES OF HORROR

THE first 999 call came in at 9.31am.

- By DAMON WILKINSON

It was made by a member of the public who had seen a car being driven into a crowd of people outside Heaton Park synagogue on Middleton Road, Crumpsall.

Inside, the temple was packed with people marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

After crashing into the gates of the synagogue, the driver got out of the car and began attacking people with a knife.

Witnesses described how Rabbi Daniel Walker bravely barricaded the doors to prevent the attacker getting inside.

Within three minutes firearms officers were on the scene and a major incident was declared. Then, at 9.38am, the suspect, last night named as Jihad Al-Shamie, was shot dead.

But in those seven short, horrific minutes, two members of the public had been killed. Four others were seriously injured in one of the darkest days in Manchester's recent memory.

Within moments, footage of the incident was circulating on social media. It showed armed police shout 'he's got a bomb', as they urged bystanders to evacuate the area.

Recorded on a mobile phone, police could be heard shouting in the direction of the attacker. They then screamed at members of the general public who had gathered at the scene on the other side of the fence of the synagogue.

A huge police cordon was put in place as the bomb squad and army units were deployed. As word of the attack got out, distraught members of the Jewish community gathered at the police tape.