The attack occurred as Jewish community members were gathering at Manchester's Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue for Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day. "This has been officially declared a terrorist incident and the investigation is now being led by the Counter Terrorist Police," Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said in a statement. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack "appalling" and "all the more horrific" for taking place on a Jewish holiday. "The driver of the car was seen then to attack people with a knife," Chief Constable Watson's statement said. "This was a vile terrorist attack that attacked Jews, because they are Jews," Starmer later said in an address.