The suspect who carried out the deadly attack at a Manchester synagogue had been released on bail from authorities related to an accusation of sexual assault at the time, as per reports.
Jihad al-Shamie, who was 35 years old, was under investigation over an alleged sexual assault that reportedly occurred in recent months.
The attacker, of Syrian origin, is believed to have previous criminal convictions, though he was not being monitored from counter-terrorism officials.
The assailant was fatally shot by armed officers after he killed a member of the Jewish community and caused serious harm to several other people during the attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester on Thursday.
Two individuals, Adrian Daulby, 53 and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz, lost their lives in the attack. One of them succumbed to a round discharged by officers targeting Shamie.
Counter-terrorism police and security services are currently investigating the attacker's background, with indications that he selected the holiest day in Judaism, the highest holy day in the Jewish calendar, to target worshippers.
Although the attacker had not been flagged to counter-terrorism agencies or referred to the Prevent deradicalization program, he had been prosecuted for prior crimes.
It remains unclear when the alleged sexual assault took place, but the suspect had been bailed while under investigation by Greater Manchester police.
One source indicated that he possessed other prior offenses, though for minor infractions with no connection to terrorism.
“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 Shamie sent a threatening message to a former Conservative MP in 2012.
The email to John Howell came from someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie” and said, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”
Howell, who stepped down as Henley's representative in 2024, said he was unsure if it was the identical individual and believed that authorities had not taken the threat against his life seriously enough at the time.
A news report from 2012 suggested that he was likely targeted due to his pro-Israel stance.
“I don’t want to seem overdramatic, 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 distorted view of life, to make an attempt to act on it.” He noted that local police had given him “extremely good security advice.”
Law enforcement have not confirmed whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who messaged Howell is the same individual who carried out the synagogue attack, but they are exploring a possible link.
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said that the attacker was not under active investigation by counter-terrorism police or intelligence services when the attack. They did not believe he had previously been on their radar, though inquiries were continuing.
