The individual who carried out the violent assault at a Jewish house of worship in Manchester had been released on police bail related to an alleged rape when the incident took place, as per reports.
The attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, who was 35 years old, was under investigation for the reported sexual assault that is said to have happened earlier this year.
Al-Shamie, who was born in Syria, is also thought to have previous criminal convictions, though he had not drawn attention from anti-terror authorities.
Shamie was killed by police gunfire by responding police after he killed a member of the Jewish community and severely injured several other people during the assault on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester last Thursday.
Two men, Adrian Daulby, 53 and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz, died during the incident. One victim succumbed to a bullet fired by armed police targeting Shamie.
Counter-terrorism police and security services are working to uncover the attacker's background, as it is believed that he selected the holiest day in Judaism, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, to attack those praying.
Even though the attacker had not been flagged to counter-terrorism agencies or referred to the Prevent deradicalization program, he had faced prosecution for criminal offenses.
The exact timing the alleged sexual assault occurred, but the suspect had been bailed while under investigation by Greater Manchester police.
One source stated that he possessed other criminal convictions, albeit for less serious crimes unrelated 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 anything like this,” an informant remarked.
Police are examining whether the attacker sent a threatening message to a ex-Member of Parliament in the year 2012.
A message 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 Henley's representative in 2024, expressed uncertainty if it was the identical individual and believed that police had not taken the death threat with adequate seriousness at the time.
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 threat when it says, ‘I would like to see you dead,’” Howell remarked at the time, according to 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 distorted view of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He added that local police had provided him with “extremely good security advice.”
Law enforcement have yet to verify whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who messaged Howell is the identical person who committed the synagogue attack, but they are exploring a possible link.
Shabana Mahmood, Shabana Mahmood, said that Shamie was not under ongoing scrutiny by anti-terror units or security agencies when the attack. They had no reason to think he had previously been on their watchlist, though investigations were still ongoing.
