ReutersTwo people have died 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 Manchester’s north, about 4 miles (6km) from the city centre.
By 09:37, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) had declared a major incident.
Police say they fired shots at 09:38 and one man, believed to be the offender, was shot.
He is believed to be dead, police say.
The North West Ambulance Service confirmed that a major incident had been declared and that it had deployed staff to the scene.
An eyewitness called Gareth, who was driving his delivery van near the scene, told the he saw a man “bleeding out on the floor”.
Gareth says he saw another man “laying on the floor” in front of a car, and he could hear people shouting.
He said he saw another person, a man, with a knife “stabbing the window” of a nearby building “trying to get in”.
“Within seconds, the police arrived, they gave him a couple of warnings, he didn’t listen so they opened fire,” Gareth explains, saying the man holding the knife then went down on the floor.
The man then “started getting back up and they [the police] shot him again”, Gareth says – describing it as “nerve-racking” to see.
How many people have died?
Police said the injuries were a result of both the vehicle and stab wounds.
Greater Manchester Police said two people have died following the major incident.
A third person, a man believed to be the offender, was shot by police and is also believed to be dead.
Three other members of the public remain in a serious condition.
Police earlier said the injuries were a result of both the vehicle and stab wounds.
What do we know about the suspect?
Police said the man believed to be the offender was shot by firearms officers and is believed to be dead.
“It cannot currently be confirmed due to safety issues surround suspicious items on his person.
“The bomb disposal unit has been called and is now at the scene.”
A clip circulating on social media, verified by the , appears to show the moment police opened fire.
In it, two armed officers can be seen standing pointing their weapons at a figure lying prone on the ground.
Seconds later, the figure attempts to stand up. A sharp cracks ring out and the man falls to the ground.
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.
The site has been cordoned off, with police, fire and ambulance services present and helicopters overhead.
Members of the Jewish community and the wider public could be seen gathering around the scene.
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”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said “additional police assets” would be deployed at synagogues across the country after the attack.
He told reporters: “We will do everything to keep our Jewish community safe.”
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.
Rabbi Jonathan Romain, of Maidenhead Synagogue, told PA news agency said this is “every Jewish person’s worst nightmare”.
“Not only is this a sacred day, the most sacred in the Jewish calendar, but it’s also a time of mass gathering, and the time when the Jewish community, however religious or irreligious, gathers together.”
The prime minister 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.
The home secretary said she was “horrified” by news of the attack on the holy day and that she was receiving updates from local police.
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”.