The Department of Homeland Security has identified the man who was killed after ramming a vehicle into a Michigan synagogue on Thursday as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali.
In a statement, a DHS spokesperson said Ghazali was born in Lebanon and entered the United States on an IR1 immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen in April 2010. He was naturalized in 2016.
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Investigators said Ghazali rammed his truck into the Temple Israel synagogue and school in West Bloomfield, about 25 miles northwest of downtown Detroit. As he continued down a hallway, police said, he exchanged gunfire with the synagogue’s security guards, and his vehicle caught fire, spreading heavy smoke inside the building. Ghazali’s body was found inside the vehicle, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.
One security guard was injured, but all students and staff inside the synagogue’s school exited the building safely.
Authorities have not revealed a motive for the attack. However, The Associated Press and other news organizations reported that an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed four of Ghazali’s family members — two brothers, a niece and a nephew — last week. A local official in the Lebanese town of Mashgharah told the AP that the deadly strike occurred as Ghazali’s family was having a fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Synagogue on alert
The synagogue and its adjoining Tyner Religious School were already on high alert following the U.S. strikes on Iran and had hired security guards for potential threats, law enforcement officials told Straight Arrow News.
It was unclear how much damage the building sustained from the fire. But Bouchard said smoke was so heavy that “we had to send people in with gas masks to clear that area.”
Bouchard said officials in Oakland County, the home of at least a dozen synagogues, had been discussing security at “Jewish facilities” for the past two weeks, alluding to the war in Iran. He said police officers would be stationed at other synagogues and schools in the area.
Response and reaction to the attack
A Straight Arrow News reporter on the scene observed hundreds of law enforcement vehicles lined the streets leading into the temple. Police were seen escorting kids off a bus and ushering them into the school.
Bouchard said local authorities have unfortunately had a lot of practice with mass shootings over the past few years.
“Well, tragically, we’ve responded to four mass shootings in the last five years, so with that comes learning and experience and preparatory actions,” he said.
SAN spoke to Heather Crews, a West Bloomfield resident, who said she was shocked to see so many police officers on her way to the gym.
“I didn’t know what was going on, and I got a bunch of texts,” she told SAN. “I turned around, and there were cars everywhere, and you can’t move. Parents just stopping their cars to make sure their kids are okay. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.“
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for calm and for reining in antisemitic rhetoric.
“This is heartbreaking,” she said on social media. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace. Antisemitism and violence have no place in Michigan. I am hoping for everyone’s safety.”
