One of the victims who died in Manchester attack likely shot by officers, police say

By Peter Wilkinson and Ivana Kottasová, CNN

(CNN) — One of the victims who died in the Manchester synagogue attack and another who was injured were likely shot by armed officers aiming for the killer, police said on Friday.

The police said they believed the two victims were huddled behind a door in the synagogue in the northern English city, trying to prevent the attacker from entering, when they were shot.

The admission came the day after two Jewish worshipers were killed and three others seriously injured in a car ramming and stabbing attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Manchester suburb of Crumpsall on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. The suspected attacker was also killed by police.

Manchester police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said one of the deceased victims “would appear to have suffered a wound consistent with a gunshot injury,” according to a preliminary report from the Home Office pathologist.

He said that since the police believed that the suspect, Jihad Al Shamie, did not have a gun, it must have been the police gunfire that hit the victims.

“The only shots fired were from GMP’s Authorised Firearms Officers as they worked to prevent the offender from entering the synagogue and causing further harm to our Jewish community,” he added.

“It follows therefore, that subject to further forensic examination, this injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end.”

The two men killed in the attack were named by the police as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. The police did not say which of the two men was believed to have been shot by the officers.

The police said three people were receiving treatment in a hospital for injuries sustained during the attack. One a suffered a gunshot wound, one had been stabbed and one was struck by the car involved in the attack.

The attack, and the security reaction to it, unfolded in a very short span of time on Thursday morning. The police said that armed officers were deployed to the scene within three minutes of receiving a call at 9:31 a.m. from a member of the public that a car has been driven into people outside the synagogue. According to the police, shots were fired by the officers at 9:38 a.m.

The police said shots were fired by the officers at the scene, confirming later that the assailant had been killed by the police. A video from the scene showed armed police officers shouting instructions at bystanders and worshippers inside the synagogue, while pointing their weapons at a person lying on the ground.

Police call for protests to be cancelled

The announcement from the police came just as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was visiting the site of the attack.

Speaking after the attack on Thursday, Starmer said he would “do everything in my power to guarantee” the security “every Jewish person in this country” deserves.

At the same time, the Metropolitan Police in London urged organizers of protests in support of the banned group Palestine Action, scheduled for this weekend to cancel the gatherings in light of the Manchester events.

“The horrific terrorist attack that took place in Manchester yesterday will have caused significant fear and concern in communities across the UK, including here in London,” the police said.

“Yet at a time when we want to be deploying every available officer to ensure the safety of those communities, we are instead having to plan for a gathering of more than 1,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Saturday in support of a terrorist organisation,” the police said.

This story has been updated.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Char Reck contributed reporting.