The individual accused of crashing into a Michigan synagogue on Thursday morning has been identified as a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, according to reports from Fox News.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali is alleged to have driven a truck loaded with explosives into Temple Israel, located in West Bloomfield Township. This synagogue also functions as a preschool. The crash resulted in a fire igniting at the scene.
Following the crash, the suspect reportedly opened fire and was subsequently shot and killed by a security guard. Authorities later discovered him inside the vehicle, armed with a rifle.
“He breached the building, drove down the hall, and was engaged by security,” explained Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard regarding the incident. “We can’t definitively state what caused his death at this moment, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire.”
Ghazali, born in Lebanon in 1985, entered the United States on May 10, 2011, on an IR1 visa as the spouse of an American citizen, based on records obtained by Fox News.
He applied for U.S. naturalization on October 20, 2015, and was granted citizenship on February 5, 2016, according to the same outlet.
A motive for the attack remains unclear, but federal authorities said at a news conference that they are probing it as a ‘targeted act of violence’ against the Jewish community.
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.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali is accused of smashing his vehicle into Temple Israel in Michigan
Police responded to the scene within five minutes of receiving a call about an active shooter
The suspect was neutralized by a security guard at the scene
Thirty law enforcement officers were also rushed to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said at the news conference.
‘When all of our people collectively went in that building to search out the threat, to remove innocent, a lot of them took in significant amount of smoke inhalation, and they’re at the hospital being treated,’ Bouchard said.
The synagogue ‘became engulfed’ in flames.
Authorities said they then received a call about an active shooter at the synagogue at 12.19pm, and West Bloomfield police were at the scene within five minutes.
Photos shared online showed a large police presence on the scene with smoke coming out of windows and a vent on the roof.
Scores of police vehicles from neighboring departments, a SWAT team, bomb technicians and bomb-sniffing dogs also responded to the scene.
The synagogue is a reform Jewish place of worship that was open at the time of the attack. It has one of the largest congregations in the country.
One woman who spoke to WDIV, named Lisa, said that the preschool was in use at the time.
She told the outlet: ‘I’m scared to death for my friends, I’ve never seen anything like this. My first thought was the children.
‘Parents and grandparents are coming and they’re scared to death for their children. This is senseless, this is not okay.’
Parents carried their children away from the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday after a gunman drove a truck into the building
Families with children are escorted from the scene earlier today
As she spoke, several adults could be seen embracing one another in tears.
Soon after the attack, a spokesman for Michigan State Police said: ‘We are asking for community members to stay away from the area to allow for police response. Troopers are also increasing patrols at other places of worship in the district.’
Sheriff Bouchard said law enforcement had been on high alert since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran nearly two weeks ago.
‘We’ve been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening,’ he said. ‘So there was no lack of preparation.
The sheriff added: ‘All Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out.’
The Jewish Federation of Detroit has advised all Jewish organizations in the area ‘to go into lockout protocol – nobody in or out of your building.’
Members of the FBI at the site of the attack in West Bloomfield, Michigan
Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter
First responders work the scene after a shooter drove a truck into Temple Israel synagogue
FBI Detroit led an Active Shooter Attack Prevention and Preparedness (ASAPP) training for the clergy and staff of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield in late January, nearly two months before Thursday’s attack.
‘The FBI course combines lessons learned from years of research and employs scenario-based exercises to help participants practice the decision-making process of the Run, Hide, Fight principles and take necessary actions for survival,’ the agency wrote in a post on X.
‘We appreciate them for having us. Our Division has partnered with many organizations in Michigan and is committed to protecting schools, workplaces, houses of worship, medical facilities, transportation centers, government facilities, other public gathering sites, and communities.’
Sheriff Bouchard has praised Temple Israel security for their response to the active shooter.
‘I’m deeply proud of the response not only from the security that was on site but also of all the police officers and the firefighters that are here now,’ she said.
‘Training certainly helped to mitigate what happened here today.
‘Everything that was supposed to happen, happened. Security did their job, and then the responders did theirs.’
