On Thursday, a man rammed his car into a crowd of people and proceeded to go on a stabbing spree outside a synagogue in Manchester, England. While several casualties were originally reported, Greater Manchester Police have released new details that cast a different shadow on the atrocity.
Police have since reported that examination of the bodies has revealed that Jihad Al-Shamie, the named perpetrator of the attack, did not cause all of the injuries in the incident.
‘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.’
In a statement published at 10:35 a.m. local time, less than an hour after the Thursday attack, police reported: “Shots were fired by Greater Manchester Police firearms officers at 9:38am. One man has been shot, believed to be the offender.”
Additionally, this first report indicated that four people were injured, stating that there were “currently four members of the public with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds.”
In the wake of the attack, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham wrote on X: “We condemn whoever is responsible and will do everything within our power to keep people safe.”
RELATED: Man with apparent ‘explosive device’ kills 2, injures 4 in Manchester synagogue attack
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for the Home Department Shabana Mahmood, and Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson visit the scene at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue.Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
In a another report timestamped at 12:10 p.m. local time, police confirmed the deaths of two victims of the attack. The offender was also believed to be dead, but police did not confirm his death at that time over safety issues due to “suspicious items on his person.”
The other report varied from the first report in the number of injured victims, saying that there were only “three other members of the public … in a serious condition.” It did not mention a fourth injured person.
It is unclear what led to the discrepancy in the number of injured people in the reports, particularly because the next update returned to reporting that four were injured.
In a report timestamped at 15:56, or 3:56 p.m. local time, police stated that “four further people remain in hospital, having suffered a variety of serious injuries and their treatment is ongoing.”
Police also added that two additional suspects were arrested and in custody at that time.
The statement added that those inside the synagogue were kept safe because of the heroic actions of those inside, who barricaded the entrance to prevent the attacker from gaining entrance: “All those inside were safely contained until police were able to confirm that it was safe to leave the premises.”
The 15:56 report suggested that the police identified the suspect but said it was “premature” to reveal his identity at that time.
In a report timestamped at 21:05, nearly 12 hours after the attack, police provided new, substantive information, including the arrest of three total suspects, two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s, and the identity of the attacker, 35-year-old Jihad Al-Shamie, “a British citizen of Syrian descent.”
One of the victims in the hospital likewise ‘suffered a gunshot wound, which is mercifully not life-threatening.’
The statement once more confirmed the deaths of two innocent men and the serious injury of only three men, varying once again from previous reports.
As was established in the first report from 10:35 that morning, the victims sustained injury from the car ramming into the crowd as well as stab wounds, the 21:05 report said. The report gave more information of the nature of the injuries: “Three other men remain in hospital with serious injuries. One sustained a stab wound and a second was struck by the car involved in the attack.”
Police then gave the first indication of a new development in the story: “The third man later presented himself at hospital with an injury that may have been sustained as officers stopped the attacker.”
The following morning at approximately 10:54 local time, Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson provided another update on X about the perpetrator and the deceased victims, suggesting that police were responsible for one of the deaths and one of the severe injuries: “The Home Office Pathologist has advised that he was provisionally determined, that one of the deceased victims would appear to have suffered a wound consistent with a gunshot injury.”
“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,” Watson continued, adding that one of the victims in the hospital likewise “suffered a gunshot wound, which is mercifully not life-threatening.”
The report further ruled out the possibility that Jihad Al-Shamie shot any victims. He was “not in possession of a firearm and the only shots fired were from GMP’s Authorised Firearms Officers as they worked to prevent the offender from entering the synagogue and causing harm to our Jewish community.”
The deceased victims were named as Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz in a police update on social media.
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Politics, Manchester synagogue attack, Manchester england, Jihad al shamie, Adrian daulby, Melvin cravitz, Uk, Andy burnham
