A police marksman keeps his eye on a man in a Manchester parkPOLICE snipers left an innocent dad kneeling with his hands on his head after they mistook a weighted vest for a bomb belt.
The man, in his 40s, was seen on the ground near an outdoor gym in , , with his .
The man was made to lie flat on the groundCredit: X
A police marksman keeps his rifle aimed at the manCredit: X
The area is home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the country.
had received reports of a “suspicious male” in Mandley Park at around 11.52am on March 20 and rushed to the scene, fearing he could be a suicide bomber.
People thought he was carrying what appeared to be a cable or “wires”.
Snipers were seen alongside a circling helicopter and multiple police vans, footage shared to social media revealed.
Videos uploaded to X, formerly , show the man in a black vest lying on the grass with armed police surrounding him.
Fortunately, Greater Manchester Police declared it a “false alarm” and the man was wearing a “weighted gym vest” and carrying a skipping rope while exercising.
Mandley Park has an outdoor gym.
The man, who spoke to the Manchester Evening News on the condition of anonymity, told the paper: “I said to the police ‘it’s better safe than sorry’.”
He added: “I was scared when I heard police shouting. They said to me ‘lie down’. I didn’t think it was for me, but there were no other people around me.
“One said ‘shoot him if he moves’, or something like that. The colleague was saying to the other ‘shoot him’ a few times. I lie down, just do whatever they tell me and I see a helicopter over my head.”
The dad, who moved to the UK 25 years ago from said he was using the skipping rope and vest as he usually did when he exercised.
He added he wore his weighted vest “everywhere” as his doctor had told him to get fit.
He suffers from type 2 and has a problem with his heart and his had told him to work out and exercise as he was overweight.
The man said he trained at the nearby gym and also in the park to get some exercise.
He added that he kept as calm as he could and co-operated with the officers.
Cops told him to place his phone on the ground, lie down and also remove his vest.
He was handcuffed and took him to the police station.
The man was kept there for a couple of hours and then he was free to go.
He also said he understood why concerns had been raised in the heart of Salford’s Jewish community, which is around a mile from last October’s attack on the in Crumpsall.
The man said he didn’t blame the police who had been “very nice” to him
He said: “Because it’s a Jewish area, I think people were scared, but I go there all the time. I go to the Jewish shops, I go there for my kids, they have nice food. I walk around here for an hour, an hour-and-a-half, something like that.”
The police have confirmed no further action is being taken against the man, adding that it “was a false alarm and there is no threat to the wider community”.
A spokesperson for the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester said: “Thankfully, this has been clarified as a false alarm and there is no threat to our community.
“This incident is indicative of the levels of anxiety currently being faced by Jewish people across the world.
“We are once again grateful for the exemplary response by GMP and the professionalism of the Community Security Trust.
“We are fortunate to be able to rely on these two amazing organisations to keep us safe.”
The man says he fully co-operated with the copsCredit: X
He was actually wearing a weighted vest rather than an explosive oneCredit: x
Salford’s Mandley Park has an outside gymCredit: Salford City Council
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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