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The suspect in the Leeds crossbow attack wrote a Facebook manifesto espousing plans for “terrorism, revenge and misogynistic rage” that referenced the 2019 massacre in New Zealand, police believe.
Owen Lawrence is suspected to have shot the women, aged 19 and 31, on Saturday in Headingley before turning a firearm on himself. Both women were taken to hospital, with one sustaining life-threatening injuries.
The manifesto, titled “the Otley run massacre”, also cites “neurotypical” people as targets, as well as general categories such as “humanity” and “human race”.
In the social media post, the author says he has read the manifesto of the far-right mass murderer Brenton Tarrant, who carried out the massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019. Tarrant killed 51 people in and close to two mosques.
The Facebook post details the attack type as: “Mass murder, terrorism, revenge, misogynyic[sic] rage, homicide/suicide.”
Counter-terrorism police have taken the lead in investigating after concluding that the suspect was likely to have written the tract. On Tuesday, they named Lawrence, 38, as their key suspect after he died. One of his victims has been discharged while the other is in a stable condition, police said.
In a statement, counter-terrorism police in the north, which is leading the investigation, said: “We can confirm that the 38-year-old man who was arrested and taken to hospital on Saturday with a self-inflicted injury, has died.
“This man was the key suspect and we can name him as Owen Lawrence from Headingley, Leeds. We believe he was acting on his own and are not currently seeking anyone else in connection with this matter.
“Counter Terrorism Policing North East will continue to conduct a thorough and extensive investigation to establish the facts and circumstances around the incident. A file will be compiled and passed to the coroner.”
The Guardian understands Lawrence was unknown to counter-terrorism police or the security services as a suspect beforehand. The senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism is still to declare the attempt at a mass casualty attack as a terrorist incident.
Lawrence lived barely 200 metres off Otley Road and his last address was a flat that has been raided and searched by police.
Jonathan Pryor, a Labour councillor for Headingley, said: “The events in Headingley this weekend have deeply alarmed our community, not only the planned attack but the disturbing rise in violent misogyny too. We continue to hold the two women attacked in our thoughts as they recover.
“Every woman has the right to feel safe, and it’s essential we tackle any culture that normalises misogyny and opens the door to extremism.”
A crossbow was recovered from the scene, as was a firearm, with police trying to determine how their suspect got hold of it.
The head of Counter Terrorism Policing North East, Det Ch Supt James Dunkerley, said: “We understand there are concerns around the incident, and questions about how and why this has happened. Our teams are committed to carrying out an in-depth investigation to provide answers to those affected.”
In another social media post from January, an account that appears to be linked to Lawrence lists things that he hates. It starts with “gender equality”, the soap opera Hollyoaks, bisexual relationships, Islamic extremists, “feminists of all four waves”, “feminoids”, the reality talent show Pop Idol, “female empowerment”, “dumb” and “fat people”, and “normies”.
In this post and his supposed manifesto posted on Facebook, he referenced “the great replacement theory”. This is a bogus far-right claim that white populations are being replaced in society.
Material from the suspect’s electronic devices is being investigated, as is his mental health and neurological state.
Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “My thoughts remain with the victims and wider community following the horrific incident in Headingley at the weekend.”
Counter-terrorism’s workload increasingly includes people who have no clear ideology, or where the causes driving them to violence are unclear.
A fortnight ago, the Guardian revealed that counter-terrorism police and the National Crime Agency had set up a joint taskforce to tackle young males fixated with violence online that is often also fuelled by “strongly misogynistic” online material.
