Synagogue attacker named as Jihad Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent

Counter-terrorism police released the name and age of the attacker, and said he was a British citizen of Syrian descent. His name did not appear in any records of Prevent, the UK government's counter-terrorism programme, they said.

A neighbour told the Telegraph she recognised the occupant of the property raided from photographs of the synagogue attacker.

She said: “He lived there 10 years, with no wife or kids that I could see. He never seemed to speak to anyone around here.

“I recognised him from the pictures of the attacker. I recognised his little car, the Kia, because he’d always park it badly outside ours.

“I’d see him walking around in his pyjamas and slip-on sandals, carrying a shopping bag.

“He was quite bulked up and used to keep his exercise weights in his garage. I’d see them there.”

People in Prestwich told the BBC Al-Shamie would sometimes dress into western clothes and other times "traditional" Syrian dress.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was "surprised" by the attacker's name.

Speaking on LBC, Ms Mahmood was asked about his name, Jihad Al-Shamie, 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."

Speaking to the BBC, an eyewitness, a delivery driver, said about the attack: “We we doing our normal delivery and we were held back in some traffic. As we got closer we could see a car had crashed.

"We thought it was a normal collision. We then saw a person bleeding on the floor, unconscious, presumably dead. “There was a guy in front of the car, lying on the floor.

“Then someone shouted, ‘He’s in the synagogue’, and as we looked over, [the attacker] had a knife, he was trying to stab the window to get in.

Police warned him twice, he didn’t listen, so they shot him. He went down on the floor after the first shot and got up so they shot him again.”

Police said in a statement: "We are now able to confirm that, although formal identification is yet to take place, we believe the person responsible for today’s attacks is 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie. He is a British citizen of Syrian descent.

“A suspicious device worn by the attacker during the incident has been assessed and was deemed not to be viable.

“Based on what we currently know, our records do not show any previous Prevent referrals relating to this individual.”

Al-Shamie is understood to have entered the UK as a young child and was granted British citizenship in 2006 when he was around the age of 16.

Faraj Al-Shamie, the father of Jihad, wrote on Facebook: “The news from Manchester regarding the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue 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.

“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.”

Sir Keir Starmer flew back to the UK early from a meeting of European leaders in Denmark to chair an emergency Cobra meeting on the stabbing.

He said the Government had deployed “additional police assets” at synagogues across the country.

Gideon Sa’ar, the Israeli foreign minister, said authorities in Britain had “failed to take the necessary action to curb this toxic wave of antisemitism and have effectively allowed it to persist.

“The truth must be told: blatant and rampant antisemitic and anti-Israeli incitement, as well as calls of support for terror, have recently become a widespread phenomenon in the streets of London, in cities across Britain, and on its campuses.”