'He got out of the car and started stabbing anyone near him'

Shocked witnesses have described the moment a deadly attack on a Greater Manchester synagogue unfolded.

Greater Manchester Police said two people were killed at the Heaton Park synagogue in Crumpsall, and the attacker was also dead, having been shot by armed police. He was later named by Counter Terrorism Police as 35-year-old Jihad al Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent whose name did not appear in any records of Prevent - the UK government's counter-terrorism programme.

Manchester synagogue latest: Suspect in killing named The force said three other people are in serious condition. Speaking to Sky News, Esther Aronson said "we heard the bang bang, heard the helicopters, sirens".

???? Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app ???? "We thought that maybe it could have been a suicide because we're right near the forest," she added, "but then we heard there was a gunshot and there was a terrorist attack at the synagogue. "Today, being an auspicious High Holy Day - we've all fasted since 6.30 last night - you want to feel secure.

You want to be able to go to places and feel that you can just walk around." A local resident also told Sky News: "I am scared. This is my neighbourhood...

It's hard [to fathom], it really truly is, to think that somebody would want to do that." She added, "it was only the elderly and the young kids that were in the synagogue so early. The prayers go on all day long so usually you tend to go later on in the day.

"So to target the elderly and these young children, very young, it's just horrendous." Read more:Everything we know about synagogue attackExtra police protection sent to synagogues, PM confirms Raphi Bloom, a regular worshipper at the synagogue, said he was walking there when he got a call from a friend warning him not to go due to a "terrorist incident". Speaking to Sky News, he said there had been inaction to tackle "the wave of hatred targeting the Jewish community in the UK.