Manchester Synagogue Attacker Was on Bail for Alleged Rape During Time of Incident
The individual responsible for the deadly attack at a Manchester synagogue was free on police bail in connection with an accusation of sexual assault at the time, according to reports.
The attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, who was 35 years old, was under investigation for the reported sex crime that reportedly occurred earlier this year.
Al-Shamie, of Syrian origin, is believed to have previous criminal convictions, however he was not being monitored from counter-terrorism officials.
Shamie was killed by police gunfire by armed officers following the murder of a Jewish man and severely injured several other people during the assault on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester's northern area last Thursday.
Two individuals, Adrian Daulby, 53 and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died during the incident. One victim succumbed to a bullet fired by armed police targeting Shamie.
Anti-terror units and security services are working to uncover the assailant's history, with indications that he chose Yom Kippur, the highest holy day in the Jewish year, to attack those praying.
Although Shamie was not known to counter-terrorism agencies or referred to the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent, he had faced prosecution for criminal offenses.
The exact timing the reported rape took place, but Shamie had been bailed while being investigated by local law enforcement.
An insider stated that he possessed other criminal convictions, albeit for minor infractions with no connection to terrorist activities.
“He was on nobody’s radar for terrorism but he certainly possessed a criminal record, though no indication he was going to do such an extreme act,” an informant remarked.
Authorities are examining whether Shamie was behind a death threat to a former Conservative MP in 2012.
The email to the former MP was sent by someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie” and stated, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”
The former MP, who stepped down as MP for Henley in 2024, said he was unsure if it was the same person and felt that police did not treat the threat against his life seriously enough back then.
A news report from 2012 indicated that he was likely targeted due to his pro-Israel stance.
“The last thing I want to appear as is a drama queen, but you have to take seriously a menacing message when it says, ‘I would like to see you dead,’” the former MP remarked at the time, according to reports from media outlets.
“It is not just a question of me, it is my family and my staff. All it takes is one person out there who is unstable enough, with a warped perspective of life, to make an attempt to act on it.” He noted that Thames Valley police had given him “extremely good security advice.”
Law enforcement have not confirmed whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who contacted the former MP is the same individual who committed the synagogue attack, but they are investigating a potential connection.
Shabana Mahmood, Shabana Mahmood, said that the attacker was not under active investigation by counter-terrorism police or security agencies when the incident. They had no reason to think he had previously been on their radar, although inquiries were still ongoing.
