On Wednesday, local officials said Iris Stalzer, a newly elected mayor in Germany, accused her 17-year-old adopted daughter of attacking and stabbing her. File Photo by Jens Schlueter/EPA
Oct. 8 (UPI) — A newly-elected German mayor named her daughter as the suspected assailant after a knife attack left the political leader in critical condition.
Iris Stalzer, a member of Germany’s center-left Social Democratic Party elected last month as mayor of Herdecke, was stabbed Tuesday inside her home in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia.Iris Stalzer
On Wednesday, local officials said the mayor-elect accused her 17-year-old adopted daughter as the suspected attacker.
Conflicting reports had also suggested the suspect was Stalzer’s unidentified 15-year-old son, who also was arrested.
Stalzer, seated in a chair with multiple stab wounds, was found inside her home living room after responders arrived and airlifted her to the hospital.
By Tuesday night, she was able to answer questions by investigators from her hospital bed.
Her daughter reportedly made the emergency call while in the company of her 15-year-old brother.
According to investigators, two knives believed to be the weapon used to attack Stalzer were gathered as evidence, and signs of a struggle were detected in the basement.
Investigators said little about a motive or the family argument that led up to the attack, which reportedly involved both of Stalzer’s children.
Stalzer, 57, won her September 28 runoff election by a 52% margin and a November 4 inaugural was initially set.
On Tuesday, the German SPD stated its party members were in a state of deep shock about the election. A rise in right-wing and anti-Semitic crimes in Germany in recent years included several deaths, including conservative politician Walter Lubcke.
Meanwhile, the Stalzer children were reportedly in the custody of German youth services.
ANOTHER wife of the Manchester synagogue terrorist said the attacker “raped” her and lied about being married with a child.
The woman, whose identity is being protected, told how Jihad Al-Shamie abused her mentally and sexually after they first met on Muslim dating app Muzz.
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University drop-out Jihad al-Shamie led a tangled love lifeCredit: Facebook
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The 35-year-old was on police bail accused of rape when he carried out the car and knife terror attack in Manchester on Thursday
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Forensic teams at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogueCredit: AP
She had converted to Islam in 2012, ten years before meeting Al-Shamie.
The woman became trapped in a volatile cycle in which he would flip between being “vile” and then “nice” to draw her back in to their on-and-off relationship.
Eventually, Al-Shamie told the woman he was married and had a son, but confessed to keeping them secret.
In text messages seen by the M.E.N, he wrote: “I didn’t tell u because I really like you and wanted u to be my 2nd wife.”
But Al-Shamie told her men can have four wives in Islamic culture and that his first wife “accepts” it.
Within a month of entering into a relationship with him, the pair married in January 2022.
The woman said their Islamic ceremony took place over a video call because of Covid restrictions.
She claimed Al-Shamie raped her, but she did not report it to police.
The attacker’s abuse is laid out in Facebook messages between the couple.
Chilling moment terrorist’s car hurtles towards synagogue before ploughing into crowd
He tells her: “Good luck getting any guy to deal with your rubbish.”
And: “You’re not worth it and I can do better – don’t need someone with your baggage and mental issues.”
To try and win her back, Al-Shamie would promise grand gestures, such as buying a property close to where she lived, although these never came into fruition.
The woman told M.E.N she thought she loved him at the beginning of their partnership.
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Members of the Armed force prepare a bomb disposal robot inside a cordon outside Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogueCredit: AFP
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Melvin Cravitz, 66, was killed in the attackCredit: Reuters
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Tributes have also been paid to 53-year-old Adrian Daulby who died in the horrorCredit: Greater Manchester Police
“He was caring and understanding and didn’t judge my kids for their needs,” she said.
“He would say ‘I love you, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that’. He was controlling and abusive.
“He did rape me multiple times, but to us we just fulfil what our husband’s say.
“He was one of them where you have got to do it there and then.”
Domestic abuse – how to get help
DOMESTIC abuse can affect anyone – including men – and does not always involve physical violence.
Here are some signs that you could be in an abusive relationship:
Emotional abuse – Including being belittled, blamed for the abuse – gaslighting – being isolated from family and friends, having no control over your finances, what you where and who you speak to
Threats and intimidation – Some partners might threaten to kill or hurt you, destroy your belongings, stalk or harass you
Physical abuse – This can range from slapping or hitting to being shoved over, choked or bitten.
Sexual abuse – Being touched in a way you do not want to be touched, hurt during sex, pressured into sex or forced to have sex when you do not consent.
If any of the above apply to you or a friend, you can call these numbers:
Remember, you are not alone.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse over the course of their lifetime.
Every 30 seconds the police receive a call for help relating to domestic abuse.
She categorized their relationship as “his way or no way” and described him as constantly being “pushy” – telling her wives had to “obey” their husbands.
A former friend told The Sun on Sunday that killer Al-Shamie would smoke around 2g of strong skunk a day when he was a teen and frequently felt the wrath of his parents.
His obsession led him to dropping out of Liverpool John Moores University a year into his English, media and cultural studies degree course in 2011.
Meanwhile neighbours said he would spend his time lifting weights in his garage or wander around in his pyjamas and flip flops.
The woman also reflected this portrayal in her tales of Al-Shamie, who she claimed was always “between jobs” and “living with his parents”.
After their relationship ended, the last time Al-Shamie contacted her was April earlier this year, but she ignored him.
New footage appears to show the man responsible for an attack at a Manchester synagogue, minutes before he drove his car into worshippers on Yom Kippur.
Two people were killed, when Jihad Al-Shamie carried out, what Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have described as a terror attack in Crumpsall on Thursday.
Footage of a street nearby marked 09:22 BST appears to show a man matching the description by witnesses of the attacker, walking back after an earlier confrontation at the synagogue where he was told to leave.
The doorbell camera then shows a black Kia Picanto, matching the car driven by Al-Shamie, heading back towards the synagogue at 09:26 BST. GMP were called to the scene at 09:31.
The black Kia Picanto also matches the car driven through the gates at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue and at worshippers.
As with the car used in the attack, the back right hub cab can be seen missing from the vehicle in the footage.
Two Jewish men Melvin Cravitz, 53, and Adrian Daulby, 66, died in the attack, the latter believed to have been hit by police gunfire as firearms officers shot Al-Shamie.
Three people remain in hospital, while police have detained four people on suspicion of terror offences.
On Sunday, counter terror police were granted more time to hold them in custody, while inquiries are under way to establish “the full picture” into what was happened, a spokesman for Counter Terrorism Policing North West said.
Two other people, a man and a woman, were released without charge after they were arrested on the day of the attack.
Jonny Humphries, Tom Mullen & Lauren HirstNorth West
Facebook
Jihad Al-Shamie rarely spoke to his neighbours, one resident said
The picture is still slowly building surrounding the life of Jihad Al-Shamie but he is known to have been a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent.
Al-Shamie is understood to have entered the UK as a young child and was granted British citizenship in 2006 when he was around the age of 16.
He lived in Prestwich, Manchester, and his family today released a statement saying: “We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened.
“Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.”
People in Prestwich told the BBC Al-Shamie was a weightlifting enthusiast who rarely spoke to his neighbours.
They said he would sometimes dress into western clothes and other times “traditional” Syrian dress.
What has his family said?
On behalf of the Al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad, his father Faraj Al-Shamie said: “The news from Manchester regarding the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue has been a profound shock to us.
“The Al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act, which targeted peaceful, innocent civilians.
“We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened. Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.
“We kindly request that all media outlets respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time and refrain from using this tragic event in any context that does not reflect the truth.
“May God have mercy on the innocent victims, and we pray for the swift recovery of the injured.”
EPA
Tributes have been left near the scene of the attack
What did neighbours say?
Geoff Haliwell lives near a house in Langley Crescent, Prestwich, that is believed to be the Al-Shamie family home. It was raided by police officers on Thursday.
Mr Haliwell, 72, said the property used to be on his window-cleaning round and he knew the wider family “a little”, saying they were “really nice people”.
“I was astonished, I was shocked,” he said, adding that he believed the Al-Shamies moved to the street about 15 years ago.
He said the father had lived there for five or six years but then left the home, later visiting in a car with French number plates.
He said Jihad Al-Shamie would sometimes wear western clothes and other times traditional Syrian dress. He also said Al-Shamie would use benches to work out.
He added: “I would see him at least once or twice a week, we just said ‘hello’.
“I didn’t even know his name.
“He was just a straightforward, ordinary lad, nothing would stand out to make you think he was.”
Another neighbour remembered a baby also living at the address but could not recall seeing a woman living there.
She said: “We used to see him out in the garden working out, doing weights, press ups.
“He used to change his clothes.
“One day he would be wearing the full gown, to the floor and the next jeans and pyjama bottoms.”
PA Media
Forensic officers working at the scene near Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue
Another resident told the Daily Telegraph: “I recognised him from the pictures of the attacker. I recognised his little car, the Kia, because he’d always park it badly outside ours.
“I’d see him walking around in his pyjamas and slip-on sandals, carrying a shopping bag.
“He was quite bulked-up and used to keep his exercise weights in his garage. I’d see them there.”
“He never seemed to speak to anyone around here,” they added.
Was he known to authorities?
Al-Shamie’s name has not appeared in initial searches of police and security service counter-terrorism records, and he is not thought to have been under current investigation.
Further checks are under way to see if he appears anywhere in records of other investigations.
There are reports Al-Shamie used to work as a tutor teaching English and computer programming and his father is a surgeon.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “surprised” by the attacker’s name.
Speaking on LBC, Ms Mahmood was asked about the attacker’s name, Jihad Al-Shamie, which presenter Nick Ferrari translated as “struggle of the Syrian”.
She said: “I was very surprised to discover that name myself.
“Actually, as a Muslim, I’ve never heard someone being called Jihad, but it is the name that he was born with – that has always been his name.”
Additionally, the Syrian British Consortium, Rethink Rebuild Society and Syria Solidarity Campaign released a joint statement.
They said: “At this stage, no-one within our Syrian community networks – neither within or beyond Manchester – has been able to identify the individual involved in this attack or confirm knowing him personally.”
Watch: Armed police at the scene of Manchester synagogue attack
The man who carried out an attack at a synagogue in Manchester on Thursdaywhich left two Jewishpeople dead and three others injuredhas been named by police as Jihad Al-Shamie.
Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British man of Syrian descent, drove a car at people outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue before attacking people with a knife. He was shot dead by police at the scene.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said three furtherpeople had been arrested as part of the investigation into the “terrorist incident”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the “terrorist attack”, which took place on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
Sir Keir said that “additional police assets” would be deployed at synagogues across the country, while London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said that “high visibility” policing in and around synagogues in the capital would also be “stepped up”.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said the attack in Crumpsall, north Manchester,was the “tragic result” of an “unrelenting wave of Jew hatred on our streets, campuses, on social media and elsewhere”.
“This is the day we hoped we would never see, but which deep down, we knew would come,” he added.
The three injured men include one who was stabbed, a second who was struck by the vehicle and a third who later went to hospital with an injury “that may have been sustained as officers stopped the attacker”, GMP says.
GMP said that two men in their 30s and a woman in her 60s had been arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation and instigation of acts of terrorism.
A spokesman for the force added that a suspicious device worn by the attacker during the incident had been assessed and found not to be a viable explosive.
He added that no referrals related to Al-Shamie had been made to Prevent – the government’s anti-radicalisation scheme.
It is understood that Al-Shamie entered the UK as a young child, and was granted British citizenship in 2006 as a minor.
An image taken at the scene showed Al-Shamie, who was later shot dead by police, with items around his waist
Police responded to reports of a car driving at members of the public at 09:31 on Thursday morning, after which officers quickly declared a major incident.
Eyewitnesses describehow security staff prevented the attacker from getting into the synagogue.
Video footage from the scene shows armed officers pointing their weapons at a man on the ground, warning people the man has “a bomb on him” and urging bystanders to back away.
At 09:38, as the man tries to get up, officers shoot him – just seven minutes after the initial call to the police.
Officers, synagogue security and rabbi Daniel Walker were commended by the prime minister for preventing a worse tragedy.
AFP via Getty Images
Rabbi Daniel Walker was praised as a hero for the way he protected the congregation during the attack
Sir Keir returned to the UK early from a summit of European leaders in Denmark in response to the incident, and later visited an unnamed synagogue.
Speaking from Downing Street after a Cobra emergency committee meeting, Sir Keir saidthe suspect had “attacked Jews because they are Jews”.
Addressing the Jewish community in the UK, he said: “I promise you that I will do everything in my power to guarantee you the security that you deserve, starting with a more visible police presence, protecting your community.
“I promise you that over the coming days, you will see the other Britain, the Britain of compassion, of decency, of love.”
Robin Simcox, commissioner for countering extremism, told the BBC’s Newsnight programmne that there was an “early indicator” that the attack was “Islamist” because of the dummy suicide vest the suspect was wearing.
He added: “Something pretty fundamental has changed in the UK over the past couple of years, where Jews are now openly saying they don’t feel safe and they’re not sure if they see a future for themselves in the United Kingdom.”
How the Manchester synagogue attack unfolded
PA Media
Armed officers were called to the scene of the attack at 09:34, three minutes after a member of the public had alerted police
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The Army bomb disposal unit were called to the incident
A witness at the scene says prayers had started when the attack happened but Rabbi Daniel Walker, who was leading the service, remained calm as he and others led the congregation to safety.
A woman, who described herself as a religious Jew who lives next door to the synagogue, says that as soon as the suspect got out of the car he “started stabbing anyone near him”.
She told the Daily Mail: “Rabbi Walker was incredibly calm, he shut the doors to the synagogue to stop him getting inside.
“He barricaded everyone inside. He is a hero, this could have been even worse.”
GMP chief constable Sir Stephen Watson said there had been many worshippers inside the synagogue at the time of the incident.
He praised security staff and worshippers who had shut the attacker out, saying that thanks to the “immediate bravery of security staff and the worshippers inside, as well as the fast response of the police, the attacker was prevented from gaining access”.
PA Media
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer arrives at No. 10 to chair an emergency Cobra meeting
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “Tonight, our first thoughts are with the families of those people who died, those injured and those traumatised by this, an horrific antisemitic attack on our Jewish friends and neighbours. We condemn it outright.
“Greater Manchester will never stand aside when one of our communities is attacked.”
On Thursday evening, a GMP spokesman said crime scenes remained in place on White House Avenue, Crumpsall and Langley Crescent, Prestwich, which were linked to the arrests made earlier.
