The individual who carried out the deadly attack at a Jewish house of worship in Manchester was free on bail from authorities in connection with an alleged rape when the incident took place, as per reports.
Jihad al-Shamie, who was 35 years old, was under investigation for the reported sex crime that is said to have happened earlier this year.
The attacker, who was born in Syria, is believed to have a record of criminal offenses, though he was not being monitored from counter-terrorism officials.
Shamie was fatally shot by armed officers after he killed a member of the Jewish community and severely injured multiple other individuals during the assault on the Heaton Park synagogue in north Manchester last Thursday.
Two men, 53-year-old Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died during the incident. One of them was fatally hit a round discharged by officers targeting the attacker.
Anti-terror units and security services are currently investigating the assailant's history, as it is believed that he selected Yom Kippur, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, to target worshippers.
Although Shamie had not been flagged to counter-terrorism agencies or enrolled in the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent, he had been prosecuted for prior crimes.
It remains unclear when the alleged sexual assault occurred, but Shamie had been bailed while under investigation by Greater Manchester police.
One source indicated that he possessed other criminal convictions, though for minor infractions with no connection to terrorist activities.
“No one suspected him of terrorism but he definitely had a history of crime, though no indication he was going to do such an extreme act,” an informant remarked.
Authorities are looking into whether the attacker was behind a death threat to a former Conservative MP in 2012.
The email to John Howell was sent by someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie” and said, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”
The former MP, who left his position as Henley's representative in 2024, expressed uncertainty if it was the identical individual and felt that police had not taken the death threat seriously enough back then.
A news report from 2012 indicated that Howell 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 said in 2012, 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 unstable enough, with a distorted view of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He noted that Thames Valley police had given him “highly effective security advice.”
Law enforcement have yet to verify whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who contacted Howell is the identical person who carried out the assault on the synagogue, but they are exploring a potential connection.
Shabana Mahmood, Shabana Mahmood, said that the attacker was not under ongoing scrutiny by counter-terrorism police or intelligence services when the incident. They had no reason to think he had ever been on their watchlist, although inquiries were continuing.
