A neighbour said the Manchester synagogue attacker lived at the raided property and that he had seen him bench-pressing in the garden
Armed police swarmed what is believed to be the home of Manchester synagogue attacker Jihad Al-Shamie, a neighbour has said.
Dozens of officers reportedly converged on Langley Crescent, a quiet residential street in Prestwich, on Thursday evening – just hours after the terror attack that left two men dead and four others injured outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, north Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police have now confirmed the attacker as Al-Shamie, 35, a British citizen of Syrian descent, who was shot dead by armed officers within seven minutes of the first emergency call.
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Neighbour Simon Barlass, 56, told Manchester Evening News that he had recently seen Al-Shamie “bench-pressing in his garden”. He said the first police cars began arriving on Langley Hall Road, which the pedestrianised Langley Crescent runs off, at about 4.40pm. He said six unmarked police cars and a police minibus turned up before “around 25” armed officers arrived 10 to 15 minutes later.
“They were all in jeans, helmets-up, goggles, body armour, the works,” he said. “Two of them were carrying shields with ‘police’ on them. One had a chainsaw.”
Mr Barlass said he saw the armed officers surrounding a house on Langley Crescent, where he claims the suspect lived with a family member.
“They were at the back and at the front,” he said. “I couldn’t see the front door, but I could see the side door.”
He said the armed officers later “disappeared”, but more uniformed and plain-clothed officers were seen going in and out of the property with boxes.
Counter-terror police confirmed the activity was linked to arrests made after this morning’s attack. Two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s have been arrested, police said. Mr Barlass said he did not see anyone else being arrested at the property.
Mr Barlass, who said he previously lived in the property raided by police, said of the suspect: “I didn’t know his name, but he used to bench-press in the garden and he’d go over and use the shops over the road and come back.”
He also claimed he had seen a car, which he believes was the one used in the attack, parked nearby this week. “I passed it about three days ago,” he said. “I’ve seen the video that’s going about and I’ve seen it. I saw it last Friday, last Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and yesterday.”