Kate and William send thoughts to victims after synagogue attack

William and Kate have sent their thoughts to victims and families after two people were killed in a terror attack next to a synagogue in Manchester.

The Prince and Princess of Wales said in a personal message posted on social media: ‘Our thoughts are with the victims and the families of the terrible attack at Heaton Park Synagogue.

‘The fact that this tragedy occurred on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more shocking.

‘We are thinking of the entire community as well as the emergency responders who attended this terrible incident.’

The message was signed ‘W & C’.

At least two people were killed in the attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, this morning.

A car was driven into a crowd and a man stabbed at 9.31am on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Police said three other victims are in a serious condition after the attack.

The suspect, who was feared to be wearing an explosive vest, has also died after being gunned down by an armed officer, police this afternoon confirmed.

Police have confirmed that the incident was a terror attack. 

The announcement was given by Assistant Commissioner of the Met Police Laurence Taylor.

He said the ‘devastating’ attack is being treated as a ‘terrorist incident’, and confirmed that two people have been arrested in connection with the investigation.

The assistant commissioner revealed the police believe they know the identity of the attacker.

No details of who he is, or what his motive was, have yet been confirmed by officers.

The Assistant Commissioner said that ‘for safety reasons at the scene’ they would not be releasing his name at this stage.

The two men arrested in the aftermath of the attack have also not been named.

The King said he and the Queen were ‘deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the horror, especially on such a significant day for the Jewish community’.

Charles, in a message issued by Buckingham Palace, said his thoughts and prayers were with all those affected by ‘this appalling incident’ as he praised the ‘swift actions’ of the emergency services.

Elite officers armed with assault rifles and Glock pistols are now standing guard outside a property in the ‘quiet’ street, which was raided earlier today. 

A cordon is also in place, with a large number of police vehicles seen blocking the cul-de-sac, made up of semi-detached homes. 

It is believed armed officers from over the border in Wales are among those now taking part in the security operation to lockdown Manchester. 

Army bomb disposal experts were called to the nearby synagogue attack site. 

At 12.45pm a small bang could be heard from near the synagogue, suspected to be a controlled explosion. 

Hero rabbi Daniel Walker barricaded worshippers inside the building after the suspect crashed into the gate and began stabbing ‘anyone and everyone’.

One witness described him moving from victim to victim in a ‘robotic’ manner ‘like he had a job to do’ – targeting ‘anyone’ wearing a Kippur. 

He then tried to force his way inside before being shot dead by armed police at 9.38am. 

A senior security source, who for decades worked in armed policing, told the Daily Mail that the man’s suicide belt looked real. 

Greater Manchester Police said it had ‘declared Plato’ – the national code-word used by police and emergency services when responding to a ‘marauding terror attack’. 

Video shared on social media appears to show armed police officers pointing guns at a man laying on the ground as one screams to onlookers: ‘Everybody else, get back. If you’re not involved, move back, get away… he has a bomb, go away.’ 

The man on the ground is seen starting to get up before there is the sound of a gunshot and he falls to the ground. A victim lies motionless on the ground outside the synagogue gates with blood around their head. 

Sir Keir Starmer said ‘additional police assets’ will be deployed at synagogues across the country following the attack.

The Prime Minister is set to fly home early from a meeting of European leaders in Denmark in order to chair a Cobra meeting following the incident.

He said he was ‘appalled’ at the attack, adding: ‘The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific.’Immediately after the attack, one Jewish man said his wife and daughter and other members of the congregation were still inside the synagogue. 

He said: ‘It is the holiest day of the year and we get this. There is no place for Jews in Britain anymore. It’s over.’

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: ‘I am horrified by the news of an attack at a synagogue in Manchester today, on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

‘My first thoughts are with the victims, our brave police and emergency services.’

Manchester has a Jewish population of more than 30,000, the highest in the UK after London.

Kemi Badenoch described the incident as a ‘vile and disgusting attack’ and called for the ‘rise in antisemitism that we’re seeing in our country’ to be ‘quelled completely’. 

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘I am appalled not only by this brutal attack, but also by the evil that lies behind it.’

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he was ‘horrified’. 

Rabbi Jonathan Romain, emeritus rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue and current head of the Rabbinic Court of Great Britain, said he felt ‘appalled’ by what had happened,

‘This is every Rabbi’s or every Jewish person’s worst nightmare,’ he said. 

‘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.’

He added: ‘This will obviously heighten the fears that many Jews have had, that political violence would spill over into religious hatred.’

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said police forces would be stepping up patrols at synagogues and Jewish sites across the country, and urged members of the public to report anything suspicious.

He said: ‘Communities across the UK that would normally be marking this holy day are now grieving and worried about their safety. And I want to be clear, UK policing is mobilising and is mobilising fast.

‘Police forces are stepping up patrols across the country at synagogues and Jewish sites and more widely, to provide reassurance to all those communities who have been affected by this incident.

‘At counter terrorism police, we’re deploying all of our capabilities in response to what has happened, and we have resources from across our network involved.

‘We will ensure every piece of intelligence and line of inquiry is interrogated.

‘We’re working closely with the security services to ensure we have a full intelligence picture in the coming days and weeks following events in Crumpsall today.

‘I’d also like to ask the public to remain vigilant. Please report anything that doesn’t feel right to the police, and be alert to what is happening in your own communities.’