Rabbi Daniel Walker, who also helped keep the doors to theSynagogue closed during the attack, has been describing yesterday’s events tothe BBC.

In the interview, which you can watch below, he explains howhe felt and the “evil” that he saw.

Vinnie O’Dowd
Reporting from Manchester

The BBC has been told that Yoni Finlay was holding the doorsof the synagogue closed to prevent the attacker from coming in when he wasinjured during shooting by Greater Manchester Police officers yesterday.

Finlay was seen being taken away on a stretcher from the scene.

He is currently under armed guard in hospital,has had surgery and was awake and speaking on Thursday evening.

Rabbi Daniel Walker returns to the stage and thanks everyone fortheir support, especially those who risked their lives and the emergencyservices.

The Rabbi concludes with a message to the Jewish people –“strengthen your lives as Jews.”

“Please, gather, show your strength and your pride, and showyou are not cowered,” he tells the crowd, adding that Jewish people “alwaysrecover and return stronger, and that is what we will do.”

And with that the official part of this vigil, in thepouring Manchester rain, is over.

The Bishop of Manchester David Walker speaks next.

He reflects on when he was an 11-year-old schoolboy inManchester, and coming to the realisation that his Jewish schoolmates”were just the same as me” and that they were all bound by a”common humanity”.

We are “weeping with our Jewish brothers andsisters” he says.

Walker adds that “hate will never defeat hate”,only love will and asks the crowd that they all pledge that to themselvestoday.

The microphone is passed to Greater Manchester Police (GMP)Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson.

GMP is determined to keep communities safe, and to allowpeople to live their Jewish lives “as you’re entitled to do in our country,”he says.

He ends by reflecting on those who “gave their lives inthe very act of protecting others”.

“There can be no greater sacrifice,” he says.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham speaks now and callsthe attack “appalling”.

He says the speakers are at the vigil today because “wecare about you, we love you, we value what you have given”.

Burnham adds that an attack on one of us “is an attackon all of us” – explaining that that is the foundation “on which thiscity region has been built”.

He specifically praises the Community Security Trust and thepeople who “mobilised” yesterday morning.

Those in attendance cheer as he says this.

Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council is next tospeak, and she takes to the stage with some light applause.

Craig says she isn’t going to stand there and say “emptywords”, and vows that they will “fight back”.

“An attack on you is an attack on all of us,” she says,referring to the city’s Jewish community, adding “we must do better”.

Craig says the city is willing to meeting with “every singleone of you… we are here to listen, not lecture”.

A woman in the crowd, who had been heckling Lammy, yells “thankyou!”

“We stand with you, we love you, we support you and we wantto hear from you,” Craig says.

Speakers at the Manchester vigil have now finished addressing the crowd, but we are continuing to bring you some of the key lines from the address.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy is then introduced, and there are some boos from the crowd as well as chants of “shame on you” break out.

Lammy takes a moment before speaking, and starts by saying “we must stand together today”.

He expresses his thoughts and prayers for those killed, as well as for the wider Jewish community, and says that people are “terrified” by yesterday’s events and fear becoming victims of “antisemitic hate”.

But, he says the Jewish community is “strong, resilient and will never be cowed”.

“We stand with you against terrorism,” he continues, as some observers continue to shout from the crowd.

Adlestone implores them to let Lammy speak, and he finishes by asking protestors who are considering marching over the weekend to “stop and to stand back”.

Next to speak is Mark Adlestone OBE who is the chair of the Jewish Leadership Council.

He begins by saying: “I am still shell-shocked by what happened yesterday.”

“I know our community is looking for two things,” he continues. “Leadership and hope. We are blessed to have various MPs and civic dignitaries with us.”

Adlestone says the community is grieving for the loss of Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz, as well as praying for those injured in hospital.

He adds that change needs to happen as he looks to a sign in front of him and reads out “no more words, we need action”.

“We have to ban the phrase ‘globalise the intifada’,” he adds. “We have to tackle those people who are spreading hatred in places of worship; we have to tackle the university campuses and in the NHS”.

“Jew hatred cannot be allowed to continue.”

Rabbi Daniel Walker begins speaking to the people gathered for the vigil by saying they are standing veryclose to the Heaton Park Synagogue – the site of yesterday’s deadly attack.

“We can see it, but we can’t get in,because the aftermath of the horror continues,” Rabbi Walker says.

The rabbi then acknowledges someone who he says was one of the “heroes of the Heaton Park community, who is today in hospital recovering from terriblewounds”.

He mentions two people – Andrew and Bernard – who he saysblocked the attacker with their bodies.

Rabbi Walker then leads a prayer.

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Manchester

Here at the vigil, a large crowd has gathered at the hastily erected stage bythe cordon on Crumpsall Lane and Middleton Road with umbrellas and waterproofsagainst the heavy rain.

They have been waiting patiently for speakers to take the stage, including Rabbi Daniel Walker, who is credited with locking the attackeroutside the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.

Alongside the police is a large contingent from theCommunity Security Trust, the voluntary organisation providing security to theJewish community, with two-way radios and matching uniforms.

Some of those in attendance had direct connections withyesterday’s attack. Robert Rosenfield told me a relative is in critical careafter being stabbed.

“The whole thing has just been atrocious, but to findout it’s someone who is so close to you, your family, makes it hit home evenharder.”

Others said they wanted to “show solidarity” withthose who had been caught up.

The BBC understands that Yoni Finlay was the man hit by police gunfire at the synagogue yesterday.

In a statement from Greater Manchester Police earlier, Police Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said that one of the three victims receiving treatment in hospital had suffered a gunshot wound, which is not life threatening.

Katherine Bainbridge
Senior journalist, BBC England

Before today’s vigil got under way, a Jewish woman and a Catholic woman held hands as they visited St Anne’s Catholic Church and lit candles in Crumpsall.

Esther Seymour, a Jewish woman, who went to the church with her friend Celeste Cavanagh, a Catholic, says seeing so many people of different faiths attend “warmed her heart”.

Esther tells BBC Radio Manchester: “It feels like a lot of people are against Jewish people, and it just felt really nice coming here and seeing so many people of other faiths.

“I’ve seen Muslim people here which is so nice, I feel so bad for how they must be feeling as well, I really do, because we all want peace, we’re cousins according to the religion.

“The majority of people want to be together, we want to be in peace, we want to live side by side.”

Celeste adds: “We turn to faith when things like this happen, and I wanted to obviously meet Esther here to light candles and show that we are standing side by side.”

Shortly, a vigil organised in part by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester will begin.

We are expecting to hear from some key members of the community, as well as local politicians.

You can follow by pressing watch live at the top of this page. Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates.

As we just mentioned, a vigil is starting in the next few minutes for the victims of yesterday’s attack near the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester.

For now, here is an overview of the past few hours:

• Two victims were hit by police gunfire yesterday, one of whom died, Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said, although he did not disclose whether this was the cause of death
• An investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) will be carried out “to establish the facts” of what happened
• A statement from the Heaton Park Synagogue said they feel “loss beyond words”, but the synagogue’s leaders also praise the bravery of security and first responders who “saved countless lives”
• The PM said beating antisemitism “is the responsibility of us all” and “we will rise to that challenge to ensure our Jewish community is safe and secure”, during a visit to police HQ in Manchester
• Deputy PM David Lammy has declared the attack a ‘major incident’ and said the victims will be supported by an Independent Public Advocate (IPA)
• The charity that provides security for Jewish communities, CST, confirmed that one of its personnel was injured in yesterday’s attack

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Manchester

Sam, an Orthodox Jewish man living behind the synagogue, said he recognised Melvin Cravitz when he saw the news reported that he had been killed in yesterday’s attack.

“We used to see him around the neighbourhood and he would stop and chat, he was a very gentle, nice man.”

Sam said he personally attended the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue most Saturdays, although he was elsewhere for Yom Kippur, and was unsure whether he could face going back.

He said he was not surprised by an attack on the Jewish community.

“It is a shock and horror, but not surprise. The way things have been going recently and how we have been targeted just for looking Jewish.

“At the moment we are scared.”

A vigil is planned for later today to honour the victims of yesterday’s Manchester synagogue attack.

Organised partly by the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester – alongside Manchester City Council – a group is expected to gather near the Heaton Park Synagogue at 15:00 BST.

The council says the vigil will be “a space for reflection, support and collective strength in the face of hate”.

We’ll be bringing you occasional updates on the vigil here, but you’ll also be able to follow along by pressing watch live at the top of this page from 15:00 BST.

Jonathan Wittenberg, senior rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK, tells the BBC that his community has been left feeling “deeply, deeply shaken” by yesterday’s attack.

But he adds that “Judaism is a deeply resilient religion”, and the communityhas “no intention to forego our love of Jewish life and our willingness topractice it”.

On further protections for Jews in the UK, the rabbi tells BBC News channel that actions to protect all people of faith are “urgentand essential”.

The Manchester synagogue attack, he says, has only taken that need “to another level ofhorror”.

Three UK-based Syrian organisations have issued a joint statementcondemning yesterday’s attack and expressing “full solidarity with our Jewishneighbours as they grieve”.

“We stress unequivocally that housesof worship must remain places of peace, safety, and sanctity, never targets ofhate or violence,” writes the Syrian British Consortium, Rethink RebuildSociety and Syria Solidarity Campaign.

Their comments come after police confirmed that the attacker was a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent.

The organisations have also called for calm, saying “we appeal to our wider society not to allow this tragedy to give rise to racist incidents directed at Syrians, Muslims, or migrants”.

“At the same time, we hope this incident will not be misused to impose restrictions on freedom of expression – particularly the right to peacefully protest and speak out against the ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

That comment follows pro-Palestinian protests that took place on Thursday evening, which Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said this morning were “fundamentally un-British”.

The statement closes with the group saying the Heaton Park Synagogue has been strengthened by countless expressions of solidarity which have poured in from across the Jewish community, faith leaders, politicians and neighbours of every background.

“In our darkest hour, you have shown us that we do not stand alone. Your embrace reminds us that love and compassion remain stronger than hate.

“As the Chief Rabbi has noted, this attack was an assault not only on Jews, but upon our shared values.

“The greatest tribute to the memory of Adrian and Melvin would be for communities right across the country to come together in peace and solidarity, to challenge the evil of antisemitism wherever it is found, so that no other community has to endure these horrors ever again.

“For now we will continue to weep, we will continue to pray, and we will continue to live our lives as Jews with dignity and faith.”

That concludes the statement, which was signed by Rabbi Daniel Walker, the executive and trustees of Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester.