It began as a bright spring morning in Golders Green.
But beneath the humdrum normality and clear blue skies, a sinister threat had already begun to unfold.
A lone figure – heavy-set and armed with a knife – was prowling through the heart of London‘s Jewish community, intent on violence.
Disturbing footage shows the man, dressed in a blue puffer jacket and carrying a backpack, stalking the quiet residential streets in search of victims.
At 11.15am, a home security camera captures him jogging past the well-kept family homes on Highfield Avenue close to a synagogue.
He appears to be in pursuit of a Jewish man wearing traditional religious dress walking some distance ahead of him, unaware he is being followed.
For several seconds he trails behind him but before he can close the distance, another Jewish man, also in traditional dress, unwittingly steps into his path.
What happens next is the start of a terrifying rampage which left two men in hospital and the nation’s Jewish community reeling.
CCTV images reportedly shows the moment Moshe Shine was stabbed while waiting for a bus
The suspect allegedly stalked down Golders Green Road before stabbing two Jewish men
Partially obscured by a tree, the footage shows the attacker strike Shloime Rand, 34, who desperately calls out for help.
The knifeman continues to lunge at him before he is able to break free. He flees out of view with his attacker briefly chasing him.
Witness Moishe Geller said: ‘The terrorist was walking up Golders Green and suddenly lunged at Mr Rand outside the shul [synagogue].
‘Mr Rand didn’t seem to know what had happened at first. He went back inside the shul and called the Jewish police.
‘Only when he put his hand to his chest, and saw blood, did he realise that he had been stabbed in the chest. He then called the ambulance.’
Five minutes after the attack the terror escalates with the knifeman launching his second and most vicious assault.
This time, his victim was a helpless elderly man – Moshe Shine – who was waiting at a bus stop 400 yards away.
At 11.20am, CCTV footage records the 76-year-old adjusting his kippah while he looks down the road for his bus, with his shopping bag in hand.
A number of members of the public spotted the alleged knifeman on the street, and warned others ofr the danger
When police arrived on the scene, the suspected repeatedly refused to comply with their instructions
Without warning, the attacker brutally sets upon him. He grabs the much older Mr Shine by his collar as he delivers several vicious blows to his head, face and neck.
He strikes the man with such force that both of them stumble into the road, causing the bus stop to shake as the victim’s kippah is knocked to the ground.
As the men fall out of the view of the camera, panicked shoppers rush towards them and the kippah remains in frame, lying on the pavement before hauntingly being blown away by the breeze.
Witnesses said the suspect casually walked away with the knife in his hand, leaving the victim with blood pouring from his neck.
Tariq Aziz, a worker at a pizza shop on Golders Green Road, said: ‘He came to our shop and then I gave him a tissue and helped him,’ adding that Mr Shine was bleeding heavily after being stabbed at least twice.
He said the suspect appeared in no rush to flee and he was able to point him out to police who had arrived on the scene.
In footage of the scene, the man, who the Met Police confirmed had tried to stab its officers, appears undeterred.
Mobile phone recordings show him brazenly approaching the officers still armed, repeatedly refusing to comply while shouting unintelligibly.
Police bodycam images show the moment the knifeman was apprehended, with a blade still in his hand
Officers tackled the knifeman along with a passerby, before arresting him
Also at the scene was the local Jewish community group Shomrim. The volunteer security organisation received multiple reports of a man running along a bustling stretch of Golders Green Road armed with a knife attempting to stab members of the public.
One clip shows one oblivious man being stalked by the suspect, only narrowly escaping injury after two men in a car alerted him that he was in danger.
Isaac Cohen, one of those in the car, said he saw the attacker chasing two Jewish men with a knife and followed him to raise the alarm.
‘We said, ‘what are you doing?’, and we understood something was wrong. So we turned the car and we went after him, we tried to save the people. We screamed ‘be careful’.’
He said they pursed him for ten to 15 minutes, trying to alert those he may encounter.
‘He was looking for Jewish people – when he saw a Jew he started running after them,’ he added.
One of the people he was able to warn was Daniela, a 29-year-old stay-at-home mum from Hendon, who was in the area shopping.
‘I was walking to the butcher and the next thing I know we hear screaming, ‘He’s got a knife – run!’
Both victims remain in hospital in a stable condition, with a police probe into the terror-related incident ongoing
Moshe Shine, 76, was one of two Jews stabbed in a north London terror attack on Wednesday morning
‘A man in a car told me someone had been stabbed. That’s when we knew to run. And we started seeing people running,’ she told the BBC. ‘It was terrifying. At that moment we weren’t sure what was happening.’
Daniela says she and a group of mums took shelter in a nearby bookshop and saw the attacker pass by and head towards the North Circular Road.
‘The shop owner locked the door. We were speechless. It is scary that as Jews living in the area we just don’t feel safe any more.’
Ben Grossnass from Shomrim said a number of his team were sent to the area after receiving multiple reports and helped to detain the man.
‘We got a phone call to the hotline at 11.20am this morning, we were on the scene within a minute and a half.
‘He was outside the synagogue on Highfield Avenue, and he started stabbing someone outside there,’ he said.
‘Then he went on down Golders Green Road, and he continued stabbing a visibly Jewish man and he went after him, pushed him over and started stabbing him repeatedly.’
Yonathan Elkouby, 33, who volunteers for Shomrim, said he was at work in Hendon when he heard that a man had a knife and he ran to his car to drive to the scene.
The scene was cordoned off and guarded by a strong police presence
Crowds at the scene chanted ‘Keir Starmer, Jew harmer’
The married father-of-five said he held the suspect’s legs and one of his hands while the man was on the ground, after police officers had tasered him. He added: ‘Things are being done to protect us but not enough that’s actually able to prevent these things.’
Weeks ago, four ambulances run by Jewish medical charity Hatzola were set alight, just yards from yesterday’s incident. These ambulances were the first to treat the injured.
Met Commissioner Mark Rowley said his officers ‘confronted a man they believed to be a terrorist, who refused to show his hands, who was violent. These were not armed officers, and they feared that he was carrying an explosive device.
‘Using only their training, their courage and their Tasers, they managed to detain him.’
A close friend of Mr Shine said he suffered serious wounds to the neck. ‘One of his wounds is very serious… in the neck. It was devastating… He was waiting for the bus home after morning prayer. We were all aghast.’
The friend, who did not want to be named, said Mr Shine was a ‘quiet man’ who had just been to the local synagogue to pray as he does most days.
‘Moshe is a really lovely man. He is pretty quiet and would go about his business not bothering anyone,’ he added.
Mr Rand’s sister said her brother, an Orthodox Jew who works in the property and mortgages sector, was lucky to survive the attack.
‘Thankfully he’s going to recover, but we’ve been told that if the knife had hit a centimetre to the right or to the left, it would have ruptured his vital organs,’ she said.
‘He’s in shock, on oxygen, being stitched up, but he will survive this intense trauma.’
She added: ‘He was casually walking down the street and was pounced on by this terrorist. The only thing that provoked the attacker was the way he looked. He was attacked just because he’s Jewish.
‘It’s appalling, but also not surprising – we get targeted by anti-Semitism all the time.’
Police said a 45-year-old man with a history of serious violence and mental health issues was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
