LONDON (Reuters) -The man whose attack on a synagogue in northern England last week resulted in the deaths of two Jewish worshippers phoned police to say he was acting for Islamic State, counter-terrorism police said on Wednesday.
Jihad Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, made the call after driving a car into pedestrians and attacking people with a knife the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in the Crumpsall district, the reports said, citing police.
Armed officers shot Al-Shamie dead at the scene, and police later said they had accidentally shot one of the two victims killed in the attack.
A spokesperson for Counter Terrorism Policing North West said that during the initial stages of his attack, he had made a call to officers to claim a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State.
Last week, the head of Britain’s Counter Terrorism Policing, Laurence Taylor, said authorities believed Al-Shamie might have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology, but establishing full details would likely take time.
The attacker was not previously known to counter terrorism police, but he did have a criminal history and had recently been arrested for rape before being released on bail, Taylor said.
(Reporting by Michael Holden and Sam Tabahriti; editing by William James)
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