One of the two casualties in the terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester during Yom Kippur was fatally shot by police as he tried to take out the lone suspect.
Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, both of Manchester, were identified as the two people killed during an incident in which Jihad Al Shamie, 35, a British citizen born in Syria, plowed his car into pedestrians and then stabbed several people outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue on Thursday (October 2). An investigation into the incident determined that one of the victims was killed by a bullet while trying to stop Al Shamie, who appeared to be wearing a suicide vest from entering the synagogue during the attack an his fatal "injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence" as the suspect didn't have a gun, Greater Manchester Police Chief Stephen Watson said via the New York Post.
One of the three other victims hospitalized was also believed to have been accidentally shot by police as they took out Al Shamie.
“It is believed that both victims were close together behind the synagogue door, as worshippers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining entry,” Watson said.
Al Shamie was killed by police about seven minutes after he rammed his car into bystanders and then attacked several victims with a knife. Authorities later determined that the suspected explosives belt he was wearing at the time of the attack was fake.
“We are grateful to the member of the public whose quick response to what they witnessed allowed our swift action, and as a result the offender was prevented from entering the synagogue,” a spokesperson said in a news release.