Volunteer security guard tackled a knife-wielding terrorist during an attack on a synagogue, buying vital time for the congregation to barricade themselves behind the doors.
When Jihad Al-Shamie launched a horrific attack outside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester, volunteer security guard Andrew bravely confronted the attacker, suffering life-changing injuries in the process.
Two men were killed and others injured in the attack in October last year on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The terrorist ploughed a car into people standing outside, then tried to enter the building with a knife.
Unarmed and facing immediate danger, Andrew, 53, confronted Al-Shamie before he could reach the entrance. Despite being stabbed several times in the face and neck, he managed to push his attacker over and run towards the synagogue warning them to shut the doors.
Andrew’s heroic intervention delayed the attacker long enough for hundreds of worshippers inside to lock and barricade the doors. He sustained serious injuries to his head, neck, spine and face as he fought a Al-Shamie.
Police arrived within minutes of the 999 call, and Al-Shamie was shot dead by firearms officers at the scene. Inside the synagogue, Andrew’s 80-year-old father Ellis held his wounds until paramedics arrived. He was rushed to hospital, where he died three times on the operating table during lifesaving surgery.
Andrew, a chef for NHS Greater Manchester mental health unit, said: “I noticed the man at the gate and had a strange feeling. Something wasn’t quite right.
“Suddenly I heard a bang and he had rammed his car into the gates. He was shouting and I didn’t know at this point he had already killed someone.
“I went to grab him and he stabbed me three times, yelling he was going to kill me. I managed to trip him up as he was running towards the synagogue. I got up somehow and shouted, ‘Lock the doors, lock the doors!’ Then I ran and said ‘Let me in, quick, I’m hurt’. I thought he was going to chase me.
“Members of the congregation barricaded the doors. He was trying to get in, smashing big pots against the doors. I was in and out of consciousness. I kept saying, ‘Dad, I’m going to die’. Then I heard gunshots, it was very scary for everyone.”
Andrew, a widowed dad of one, added: “At hospital I told the surgeon, ‘Please save me, I have a daughter’.”
Andrew’s friend Jonathan Patoff said: “Andrew is a quiet and unassuming good man who behaved heroically in defending the congregants, giving others time to lock the door and save lives. The physical and mental scars of his selfless heroism will take time to heal.”
