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The suspect who carried out the deadly attack at a Jewish house of worship in Manchester had been released on bail from authorities in connection with an alleged rape at the time, according to reports.

The attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, aged 35, was being probed over an alleged sex crime that is said to have happened earlier this year.

Al-Shamie, who was born in Syria, is also thought to have a record of criminal offenses, though he had not drawn attention from counter-terrorism officials.

Shamie was fatally shot by responding police following the murder of a Jewish man and caused serious harm to several other people during the attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester on Thursday.

Two individuals, Adrian Daulby, 53 and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz, lost their lives during the incident. One victim succumbed to a round discharged by officers targeting the attacker.

Anti-terror units and intelligence agencies are working to uncover the assailant's history, as it is believed that he chose the holiest day in Judaism, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, to target worshippers.

Although the attacker had not been flagged to anti-terror organizations or enrolled in the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent, he had been prosecuted for prior crimes.

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

One source indicated that he possessed other prior offenses, though for minor infractions with no connection to terrorism.

“He was on nobody’s radar for terrorism but he certainly possessed a criminal record, though nothing to suggest he was going to do such an extreme act,” said one source.

Police are examining whether the attacker was behind a threatening message to a ex-Member of Parliament in 2012.

A message to the former MP came from someone identifying as “Jihad Alshamie” and said, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”

The former MP, who left his position as Henley's representative in 2024, expressed uncertainty if it was the identical individual and believed that authorities had not taken the death threat with adequate seriousness back then.

A news report from 2012 suggested that Howell 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,’” the former MP remarked at the time, 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 warped perspective of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He added that Thames Valley police had given him “highly effective security advice.”

Police 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.

Shabana Mahmood, Shabana Mahmood, said that Shamie was not under ongoing scrutiny by anti-terror units or security agencies at the time of the incident. They had no reason to think he had ever been on their radar, although investigations were still ongoing.