A suspect is dead after ramming a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday afternoon, in what the FBI said was a «targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.» No victims were killed inside the synagogue, officials said.
In a statement provided to CBS News on Thursday night, the Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen. A source in Michigan’s Lebanese American community told CBS News that a strike roughly 10 days prior on the Lebanese village of the suspect’s family killed several of his family members, leaving him devastated.
Here’s what we know about the incident.
Ramming attack
Around 1:35 p.m. Thursday, police responded to reports of shots fired in the area of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, a suburb northwest of Detroit, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
Bouchard said a man drove through the doors of the building and down a hallway, and that security engaged the suspect with gunfire. Law enforcement sources told CBS News the suspect exited the vehicle with a rifle and was confronted and killed by synagogue security. Bouchard, however, said the suspect was found dead in the vehicle, and said he couldn’t specify if he was killed by security. It was not immediately clear if the suspect fired any shots.
«In situations like this, you never know, if somebody is trapped somewhere, sometimes they kill themselves,» Bouchard said.
According to Secure Community Network, which provides security for Jewish institutions across the country, there were two suspects in the vehicle, although Bouchard said it appeared there was only one.
Two law enforcement sources told CBS News there were mortar-type explosives in the vehicle, which caught fire when it rammed into the building.
«Something ignited in the vehicle. That’s a work in progress,» Bouchard said.
One of the lead security personnel who was hit by the vehicle when it rammed the building was taken to an area hospital for treatment. They are expected to be OK, Bouchard said.
Bouchard said 30 law enforcement officers were hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.
Bloomfield police said around 3:30 p.m. that «the area has been secured and there are no active threats to the community.»
Suspect in Michigan synagogue attack lost family in recent airstrike in Lebanon, source says
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the suspect, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, came to the U.S. legally in May 2011 on a sponsorship from his American spouse, and he became a U.S. citizen himself in 2016.
Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon, entered the U.S. through Detroit Metropolitan International Airport on an IR1, which is an immigrant visa for a spouse of a U.S. Citizen, DHS said.
He first filed for the visa in December 2009, and it was approved in April 2010, DHS said. He applied for citizenship in October 2015, and his application was granted in February 2016.
Authorities did not immediately identify a motive. Two law enforcement sources told CBS News the suspect’s body had been badly burned, complicating identification.
A source in the Lebanese American community in Dearborn, Michigan, who has known the suspect for more than a decade, told CBS News that Ghazali was a resident of Dearborn Heights and previously worked at a restaurant in the Dearborn Heights area.
The source said that Ghazali had recently experienced severe trauma after an airstrike in his family’s village in Lebanon roughly 10 days prior that reportedly killed two of the suspect’s brothers and two of their children. The strike also left one of his sisters-in-law severely injured and hospitalized, the source added.
Ghazali was devastated by the loss and had stopped working, spending time alone at home, the source said. He lived by himself and was divorced, though his children live with their mother in the U.S.
According to the source, shortly before Thursday’s synagogue attack, Ghazali called his ex-wife and told her to take care of their children, which alarmed her. The source said she contacted police and relatives to check on him.
The vehicle used in the attack is registered under the name of a man who lived in the Dearborn area. The FBI is leading the investigation.
Details on Temple Israel
Temple Israel is the largest Reform synagogue in the United States, according to its website. The facility also houses a school that includes an early childhood center and kindergarten.
The synagogue said there were 140 students at the center on Thursday and that they and all teachers and staff were safe and accounted for.
Officials react to attack
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called the attack «every community’s worst nightmare.»
«Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace. Antisemitism and violence have no place in Michigan,» Whitmer said in an earlier statement.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a statement saying in part, «Antisemitism has no place in Michigan and cannot be tolerated. In moments like these, it’s more important than ever that we come together, stand with our neighbors, confront hate whenever it appears, and build stronger communities.»
At an event to mark Women’s History Month, President Trump said Thursday, «I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in the Detroit area following the attack on the Jewish synagogue earlier today,» calling the attack a «terrible thing» and vowing to get «right down to the bottom of it.»
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said on social media that he spoke with Jewish leaders in Detroit following the attack, adding, «This is a grave and serious incident that follows a series of attacks on Jewish institutions around the world. Tonight, we send a message of strength and support from Israel to the Jewish community in Michigan.»
