Shocked eyewitnesses have described the scene unfolding as four people were injured and a man was stabbed outside a synagogue in Manchester.

Police said a car was driven at members of the public during the incident in Crumpsall and a man – believed to be the offender – was shot by firearms officers.

A delivery driver who was in the area said he saw what first appeared to be a car crash before realising there was man with a knife.

“We thought we could see a car that had crashed, so we just thought it was a normal collision, but when we got a bit closer we saw a guy bleeding out on the floor. He was just unconscious, presumed dead,” he said.

“And then there was a guy in front of the car, he was lying on the floor, and there were a few people standing in the road.

“Somebody shouted ‘he’s in the school or the synagogue’ and then as we looked over the guy had a knife and he was just stabbing the window, trying to get in [the building], and within seconds the police arrived.

“They gave him a couple of warnings, he didn’t listen, so they opened fire. He went down on the floor and then he started getting back up and then they shot him again.”

The attack took place on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, in a part of the city with a large Jewish community.