Manchester Synagogue Attacker Had Been Released on Bail for Alleged Rape During Time of Incident
The suspect responsible for the violent assault at a Jewish house of worship in Manchester had been released on police bail in connection with an accusation of sexual assault when the incident took place, according to available information.
The attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, aged 35, was under investigation over an alleged sex crime that is said to have happened in recent months.
The attacker, who was born in Syria, is also thought to have previous criminal convictions, though he had not drawn attention from anti-terror authorities.
The assailant was killed by police gunfire by armed officers following the murder of a Jewish man and caused serious harm to several other people during the attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester last Thursday.
Two men, Adrian Daulby, 53 and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died during the incident. One victim was fatally hit a round discharged by officers aimed at the attacker.
Anti-terror units and security services are working to uncover the attacker's background, with indications that he selected the holiest day in Judaism, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, to attack those praying.
Although Shamie was not known to counter-terrorism agencies or enrolled in the Prevent deradicalization program, he had been prosecuted for prior crimes.
The exact timing the reported rape took place, but the suspect had been bailed while under investigation by local law enforcement.
One source indicated that he possessed other prior offenses, albeit for less serious crimes with no connection to terrorism.
“No one suspected him of terrorism but he definitely had a criminal record, though no indication he was going to do such an extreme act,” an informant remarked.
Police are looking into whether Shamie sent a death threat to a former Conservative MP in 2012.
A message to John Howell was sent by someone identifying as “Jihad Alshamie” and stated, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”
The former MP, who stepped down as Henley's representative in 2024, expressed uncertainty if it was the identical individual and felt that police had not taken the threat against his life seriously enough at the time.
A news report from 2012 indicated that he was likely targeted due to his support for Israel.
“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, in reports by the Jerusalem Post.
“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 weird enough, with a warped perspective of life, to make an attempt to act on it.” He noted that Thames Valley police had given him “highly effective security advice.”
Law enforcement have not confirmed whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who contacted the former MP is the identical person who committed the assault on the synagogue, but they are investigating a potential connection.
Shabana Mahmood, Shabana Mahmood, said that the attacker was not under ongoing scrutiny 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.
