Two people were killed after an assailant reportedly drove a car into pedestrians and a stabbed a security guard near a synagogue in Manchester in northwest England on Thursday, British police said, adding that officers had shot the suspect.

Greater Manchester Police said officers had been called to Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the north Manchester district of Crumpsall after a witness said they had seen a car driven at members of the public and that one man had been stabbed.

Armed officers responded and a man, believed to be the offender, was shot, GMP said in a statement.

Two people had been confirmed dead and three others were in a serious condition. The suspect was also believed to be dead but police said it could not be confirmed "due to safety issues surrounding suspicious items on his person".

A bomb disposal unit was summoned and was now at the scene, they said.

A video shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed police shooting a man inside the synagogue’s perimeter, while another man lay on the floor in a pool of blood, appearing to wear a traditional Jewish head covering.

Police had earlier said that reports indicated that a security guard had been attacked with a knife.

"I'm appalled by the attack at a synagogue in Crumpsall," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on X as he left a European political meeting in Copenhagen early.

"The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific," Starmer said.

Ambulance crews in protective body armour

A Reuters photographer reported a heavy police presence in the area. Ambulance crews were seen in protective body armour and helmets, and at least one person was seen being taken into an ambulance.

Police said there were further reports that a security guard had been attacked with a knife.

"Paramedics arrived at the scene ... and are tending to members of the public, currently four members of the public with injuries caused by both the vehicle and stab wounds," GMP said in a statement on X.

There were no further details.

Yom Kippur is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar when even many non-regular synagogue-goers take time to pray and all road traffic stops in Israel.

Immediate danger appears to be over

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said it was a serious incident but told BBC radio "that the immediate danger appears to be over".

The Community Security Trust, a charity that provides security to Jewish organisations and institutions across Britain, said it was working with police and the local community. "This appears to be an appalling attack on the holiest day of the Jewish year," the CST said on X.

Britain suffered its second worst year for antisemitism in 2024 with more than 3,500 incidents being recorded, reflecting sustained levels of hatred towards Jews, the CST said earlier this year.

Reported levels of antisemitism rocketed to record levels in the wake of the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israel and Israel's subsequent war in Gaza that has devastated the Palestinian enclave.

Britain has suffered a number of Islamist militant attacks since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, including a deadly 2017 suicide bombing at the end of an Ariana Grande pop concert in Manchester.

The police have in recent years also warned about the threat from organised far-right terrorism.

Earlier this year, British right-wing extremists were convicted of planning to carry out a terrorist attack at mosques or synagogues as part of a "race war".