The man who carried out a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue this week was on police bail over an alleged rape at the time of the assault, The Guardian reported. Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was being investigated for an alleged sexual offence said to have taken place earlier this year, The Guardian reported, adding that he had prior criminal convictions, though he was not known to counter-terrorism police or MI5, the UK's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, before Thursday’s attack. Al-Shamie was shot dead by armed officers after he stormed the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue on Yom Kippur, killing two worshippers and seriously injuring several others. Police said on Friday they believed the attacker “may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology”, but cautioned that “establishing the full circumstances of the attack is likely to take some time.” Police gunfire under questions Greater Manchester police (GMP) further admitted that one of the casualties, and another person left injured were probably struck by police gunfire as officers tried to prevent Al-Shamie from entering the synagogue. “It follows therefore that… this injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence,” said Stephen Watson, GMP’s chief constable, The Guardian reported. The two men killed were named as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. Families and neighbours remembered them as kind and gentle men, with Cravitz described as a “gentle giant” and Daulby as “one of the most fantastic men I ever knew.” Who is the alleged attacker Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen since 2006, is also being investigated for a threatening email sent to former Conservative MP John Howell in 2012, signed in his name and saying: “It is people like you who deserve to die.” The attacker’s father condemned the assault as a “heinous act” but has come under scrutiny himself after past Facebook posts appeared to praise Hamas’s attacks on Israel. Six people have now been arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism as detectives try to untangle al-Shamie’s background and motives. At a vigil near the synagogue, Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled by some attendees who accused the government of failing British Jews. Keir Starmer urged demonstrators to cancel a planned march against the banning of Palestine Action, saying this was a time to “respect the grief of British Jews.”
