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The suspect responsible for the violent assault at a Jewish house of worship in Manchester had been released on bail from authorities in connection with an alleged rape when the incident took place, according to available information.

Jihad al-Shamie, aged 35, was being probed for the reported sex crime that reportedly occurred earlier this year.

Al-Shamie, who was born in Syria, is believed to have previous criminal convictions, however he had not drawn attention from anti-terror authorities.

Shamie was killed by police gunfire by responding police after he killed a member of the Jewish community and caused serious harm to multiple other individuals during the attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester's northern area last Thursday.

Two individuals, Adrian Daulby, 53 and Melvin Cravitz, 66, died in the attack. One victim succumbed to a bullet fired by armed police aimed at Shamie.

Counter-terrorism police and security services are currently investigating the assailant's history, with indications that he selected the holiest day in Judaism, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, to attack those praying.

Even though the attacker was not known to counter-terrorism agencies or referred to the Prevent deradicalization program, he had faced prosecution for criminal offenses.

It remains unclear when the alleged sexual assault occurred, but Shamie had been bailed while under investigation by Greater Manchester police.

An insider stated that he had additional criminal convictions, albeit for minor infractions with no connection to terrorism.

“He was on nobody’s radar for terrorism but he certainly possessed a criminal record, though no indication he was going to do such an extreme act,” said one source.

Police are examining whether the attacker was behind a death threat to a former Conservative MP in the year 2012.

A message to John Howell was sent by someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie” and said, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”

Howell, who left his position as Henley's representative in 2024, expressed uncertainty if it was the identical individual and believed that police did not treat the death threat seriously enough at the time.

A news report from that year suggested that he may have been singled out due to his support for Israel.

“I don’t want to seem overdramatic, but you have to take seriously a threat when it says, ‘I would like to see you dead,’” Howell said in 2012, according to coverage from media outlets.

“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 warped perspective of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He added that local police had given him “extremely good security advice.”

Law enforcement have not confirmed whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who contacted the former MP is the same individual who committed the assault on the synagogue, but they are exploring a potential connection.

The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said that the attacker was not under ongoing scrutiny by counter-terrorism police or security agencies when the incident. They had no reason to think he had previously been on their watchlist, although investigations were still ongoing.