Updated 2:17 AM EDT,
Police respond to scene of a vehicle ramming at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday. Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News/AP
The suspect in an attack on a Michigan synagogue has been identified by the Department of Homeland Security as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized US citizen born in Lebanon.
The suspect was found dead in the vehicle he drove through the doors and into the hall of Temple Israel synagogue northwest of Detroit, investigators said. The FBI called the attack a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.”
No other fatalities were reported. The vehicle and synagogue erupted in flames during the attack. One of the security guards who engaged the suspect was hit by the vehicle but is expected to recover, officials said. At least 30 law enforcement officers from different agencies were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
Here’s what else we know.
• A suspect is dead after ramming a vehicle into a Detroit-area synagogue, which became engulfed in flames, according to authorities. The incident happened at Temple Israel, which includes an early childcare center and school, in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.
• The Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon and became a US citizen in 2016.
• After the ramming, security opened fire at the suspect, who was later found dead in the vehicle, the Oakland County sheriff said. A security guard was hit by the vehicle but is expected to recover, while at least 30 law enforcement officers were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, he said.
• Earlier, law enforcement officials briefed on the scene said that responders found what appeared to be a large amount of explosives in the vehicle.
A suspect is dead after ramming a vehicle into a synagogue near Detroit. Here’s what we know
By Karina Tsui
• The Department of Homeland Security identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon and became a US citizen in 2016.
• After the ramming, security opened fire at the suspect, who was later found dead in the vehicle, the Oakland County sheriff said. A security guard was hit by the vehicle but is expected to recover, while at least 30 law enforcement officers were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, he said.
• Earlier, law enforcement officials briefed on the scene said that responders found what appeared to be a large amount of explosives in the vehicle.
A suspect is dead after ramming a vehicle into a synagogue near Detroit. Here’s what we know
By Karina Tsui
Police respond to scene of a vehicle ramming at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday. Jacob Hamilton/Ann Arbor News/AP
The suspect in an attack on a Michigan synagogue has been identified by the Department of Homeland Security as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a naturalized US citizen born in Lebanon.
The suspect was found dead in the vehicle he drove through the doors and into the hall of Temple Israel synagogue northwest of Detroit, investigators said. The FBI called the attack a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.”
No other fatalities were reported. The vehicle and synagogue erupted in flames during the attack. One of the security guards who engaged the suspect was hit by the vehicle but is expected to recover, officials said. At least 30 law enforcement officers from different agencies were taken to hospital for smoke inhalation, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.
Here’s what else we know.
- The motive behind the attack remains unclear. Authorities are investigating reports that the suspect told people he had multiple family members killed in a recent Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN. The suspect entered the US in 2011, on an IR1 immigrant visa as the spouse of a US citizen and obtained citizenship in 2016, DHS said.
- Investigators are also working to determine what caused the fire during the attack. Emergency responders found what appeared to be a large amount of explosives in the back of the vehicle, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the scene told CNN.
- Over 100 FBI agents and analysts were mobilized in an effort to mitigate and respond to the threat while also pursuing leads, the agency said. The FBI is working with state, local and federal partners to investigate the attack, said Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office.
- The synagogue had been on high alert for potential violence in the weeks before the attack, officials said. Though the motive in the attack is still unknown, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said there is a clear “nexus” between the Iran war and the attack, adding it’s no coincidence the suspect targeted a synagogue named Temple Israel.
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