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The individual who carried out the deadly attack at a Manchester synagogue had been released on police bail related to an alleged rape when the incident took place, according to reports.

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

Al-Shamie, of Syrian origin, is also thought to have a record of criminal offenses, though he was not being monitored from counter-terrorism officials.

The assailant was fatally shot by armed officers following the murder of a member of the Jewish community and caused serious harm to multiple other individuals during the assault on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester last Thursday.

Two individuals, Adrian Daulby, 53 and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz, lost their lives during the incident. One victim was fatally hit a bullet fired by officers targeting the attacker.

Counter-terrorism police and intelligence agencies are working to uncover the assailant's history, with indications that he selected the holiest day in Judaism, the highest holy day in the Jewish year, to target worshippers.

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

The exact timing the alleged sexual assault took place, but the suspect had been bailed while being investigated by Greater Manchester police.

An insider stated that he possessed other criminal convictions, albeit for less serious crimes with no connection to terrorism.

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

Authorities are looking into whether Shamie sent a death threat to a former Conservative MP in 2012.

The email to John Howell came from someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie” and said, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”

Howell, who stepped down as Henley's representative in 2024, expressed uncertainty if it was the identical individual and felt that authorities did not treat the death threat with adequate seriousness back then.

A news report from that year indicated that he may have been singled out due to his pro-Israel stance.

“The last thing I want to appear as is a drama queen, but you have to take seriously a threat when it says, ‘I would like to see you dead,’” the former MP said in 2012, in reports by the Jerusalem Post.

“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 distorted view of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He noted that local police had given him “highly effective security advice.”

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

The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, stated that Shamie was not under active investigation by anti-terror units or intelligence services at the time of the incident. They did not believe he had ever been on their radar, though investigations were still ongoing.