The FBI has disclosed that the gunman who drove a truck laden with explosives into a Michigan synagogue took his own life as law enforcement closed in.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, targeted a Detroit synagogue on Thursday. During a confrontation with police, he fatally shot himself, according to the FBI.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent leading the Detroit FBI office, stated at a press briefing, “His engine compartment caught fire, and amid the gunfight, Ghazali inflicted a gunshot wound to his head.”
The attack unfolded when Ghazali’s truck became lodged in the hallway of Temple Israel synagogue around 12:20 p.m. He began firing through his windshield as officers returned fire from both the front and back of the vehicle.
Following the collision, the synagogue was engulfed in flames. The FBI reported that the truck’s bed contained “large quantities of commercial-grade fireworks and several jugs of flammable liquid,” likely gasoline.
The liquid is believed to have been gasoline.
No students or staff were injured in the attack, but a security guard was taken to the hospital after being struck by the vehicle. He is expected to recover.
Thirty law enforcement officers were also taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, smashed a truck filled with fireworks and ‘flammable liquid’ into a Michigan synagogue and then opened fire on Thursday
Jennifer Runyan, a special agent in charge of the Detroit FBI field office, said Ghazali was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head
Ghazali worked at Hamido, a popular Middle Eastern restaurant in Dearborn Heights, Michigan
Ghazali’s truck had become stuck in the hallway of the Temple Israel synagogue at around 12.20pm when gunfire erupted and the synagogue erupted in flames
Federal authorities said at a news conference that they are probing the horrific incident as a ‘targeted act of violence’ against the Jewish community.
Ghazali targeted the synagogue just days after his two brothers, niece and nephew were killed in an Israeli airstrike in his hometown of Mashghara, Lebanon.
The brothers, identified as Kassim and Ibrahim Ghazali, were known members of the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, a Lebanese official told NBC News.
Ibrahim’s children, Ali and Fatima, were among those killed in the blast, a source told the Associated Press. His wife was seriously wounded and remains in hospital.
The official added that Kassim was a well-known soccer coach and personal trainer, while Ibrahim was a school bus driver in the village.
It is unclear which roles they played in Hezbollah and if they were the intended targets of the airstrike.
The FBI has been aware of Ayman Ghazali’s terrorist connections for at least seven years, the New York Post reported.
Authorities discovered contacts of known Hezbollah members in Ghazali’s phone in 2019 when he was questioned by police after returning home from a trip overseas, law enforcement sources told the newspaper.
The charred remains of Ghazali’s truck were seen in footage being towed from the scene
The synagogue is a reform Jewish place of worship that was open at the time of the attack. It has 12,000 members, one of the largest congregations in the country
Parents carry their preschool-aged children to safety as police escort them away from Temple Israel synagogue after Ghazali’s attack
Ghazali, who was known to travel to his native Lebanon, where the terror group is based, told officials he went abroad for a hair transplant. The FBI looked into the incident, though the outcome of its probe is unknown.
He lived in a $315,600 home in Dearborn Heights, which has the largest Arab American population in the United States. Federal agents were seen searching his residence on Thursday night.
The gunman was seemingly well-liked by locals, especially those who frequented Hamido, the popular Middle Eastern restaurant where he worked.
Regulars said Ghazali was the ‘face of the restaurant’ and always treated them with respect.
But he had been absent from work in the weeks leading up to the synagogue attack, a colleague told The New York Times.
Ghazali’s longtime neighbor Kandie Zaidieh, who described Ghazali as ‘my rock,’ was shocked to learn of his involvement in the attack and suspects the tragedy in Lebanon may have played a role in his decision-making.
‘Because his brother died, right?’ Zaidieh, 60, questioned when approached by the Detroit Free Press. She added: ‘He was the best. The best neighbor. Always quiet, a hard worker. He was always pleasant. Everybody liked him.’
Ghazali was born in Lebanon in 1985 and entered the United States in May 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the spouse of an American citizen, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
FBI members seen on the site as the shooting incident unfolded at the Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield
He then applied for naturalization on October 20, 2015, and became a citizen on February 5, 2016, under the Obama administration.
Court records reviewed by the Daily Mail show Ghazali’s ex-wife filed for divorce in Wayne County Circuit Court in August 2024.
A divorce was granted seven months later in March 2025 and a child support order was signed and filed at the conclusion of the proceedings.
The reason behind their separation remains unclear, as the divorce filing is sealed.
An unnamed source told CBS News that Ghazali phoned his ex-wife shortly before the attack, asking her to take care of their children.
This is a breaking news story.
