At least two people have been confirmed dead in a car-ramming and stabbing outside a Manchester synagogue today on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. Three others remain critically injured following the attack in Crumpsall, north of the city, where a vehicle was driven into pedestrians and a man was stabbed.

The suspect is also thought to have been killed after being shot by armed police, though the force said this “cannot currently be confirmed due to safety issues surrounding suspicious items on his person.”

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“Police were called to the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, on Middleton Road, Crumpsall, at 9.31 am by a member of the public, stating he had witnessed a car being driven towards members of the public, and one man had been stabbed,” a police statement said. Emergency crews quickly arrived, police confirmed. Worshippers inside the synagogue at the time were evacuated.

Yom Kippur is typically one of the busiest days in synagogues. Religious leaders conduct services throughout the day, giving Jewish worshippers the opportunity to pray, seek forgiveness, or reflect on past sins. Greater Manchester Police triggered PLATO – a national alert term used when armed units are sent to an incident across the force, CNN reported.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer ordered “additional police assets” to be deployed to synagogues nationwide, according to PA Media.

“The fact that this has taken place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, makes it all the more horrific,” the prime minister wrote on X. “My thoughts are with the loved ones of all those affected.”

Starmer is cutting short his trip to Copenhagen, where he was attending a European security summit, and will reportedly return to the UK to lead a Cobra emergency committee meeting. Four nearby hospitals were placed “on lockdown” after the attack, the Manchester Evening News reported.

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham asked the public to stay away from the area following what he called a “serious incident.”

“Obviously what we would all want to recognize is how people in our Jewish community will be feeling right now,” he told BBC Radio Manchester.

“I can only imagine how people are feeling when they hear this news, the fear that that will bring,” Burnham added.

This story is still ongoing.