British police have said that an officer might have shot one of the victims who died in an attack on worshippers at a synagogue in Manchester on Thursday.

Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Steve Watson said on Friday that, although the attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, was shot dead at the scene, one of the two victims who were killed had suffered a gunshot wound.

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“It follows therefore this injury may have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end”, Watson said in a statement.

During Thursday’s attack, two men, Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66, were killed after al-Shamie, 35, drove his car into pedestrians and began stabbing people outside Manchester’s Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue during the holiest day in Judaism, Yom Kippur.

Three other people were injured in the attack.

But Daulby was shot, as well as another member of the public whose injuries were not life-threatening, while trying to stop the attacker from entering the synagogue, Watson said.

Family pays tribute

In a tribute, Daulby’s family, through Greater Manchester Police, called him a “hero”.

“[He] tragically lost his life in the act of courage to save others, he was a beloved brother, loving uncle to his four nieces and one nephew and a cherished cousin,” his family said.

“His final act was one of profound courage, and he will forever be remembered for his heroic act,” they added.

During a vigil in the rain for the victims in Manchester, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy was heckled by members of the public, some of whom accused the government of not doing enough to stop growing anti-Semitism.

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One man shouted, “My children’s school was closed today. You have allowed this to happen. You are all guilty. You have allowed Jew hatred in Manchester, on the streets.”

In an address, Lammy told the community that they “stand in defiance of those terrorists who seek to divide us”.

However, in response, one person shouted “you enabled it, every Saturday”, referencing pro-Palestine marches that have taken place regularly since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.

The deputy prime minister also faced calls of “go to Palestine, leave us alone”.

Like other European countries and the United States, the UK has recorded a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents since the war began.

Last year was the second-worst on record for such incidents, with 3,500 incidents reported, according to the Community Security Trust, a charity that provides safety to the Jewish community in the UK.