An attacker armed with a rifle was fatally shot after ramming his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues Thursday in what federal investigators said was an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the incident “deeply disturbing and tragic” and said the FBI is leading the investigation.
The agency considers the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” she said at a news conference Thursday. Investigators have not determined a specific motive yet.
“What drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
The vehicle caught fire after crashing into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, just outside Detroit, and driving through a hallway as security opened fire, authorities said.
None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers, or the 140 children at its early childhood center were hurt, Bouchard said.
“No kids or no staff were injured whatsoever,” said Bouchard. He said one security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue.
The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, Bouchard said, and the Oakland County Sheriff’s office cleared the building.
Authorities said 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
The Department of Homeland Security named Ayman Mohamad Ghazali as the suspected attacker Thursday night. DHS said he was born in Lebanon in 1985, arrived in the U.S. in 2011 on a visa allowing permanent residency as the spouse of an American citizen, and was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016.
Parents raced to retrieve children who were in the synagogue
Cassi Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was standing at the hallway where the crash happened. She said she heard a loud bang, grabbed a few staff members, ran into her office and locked the door.
“When I heard the crash, I knew it was bad,” Cohen said.
She said a classroom was near where the car rammed the synagogue and, in addition to the children, there were also more than 30 staff members in the building.
“Thankfully, we have had many active shooter drills and our staff is prepared for these situations,” she said. “We do go into lockdown.”
The West Bloomfield School District also went on lockdown.
Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents, calling them the “true rock stars of the day.”
About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.
Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.
“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she told the AP. “I was hoping that it was a false report.”
Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that’s going on in the world.
“You never think that this is actually going to happen to you,” she said. “But I know that it’s — it’s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.”
Neighbors look for answers
Holly Roy lives near the West Bloomfield synagogue and said she heard the sounds of the vehicle crashing into the temple and the gunshots security fired at the man who drove it.
She scanned news to find out what happened. When her 11-year-old son got home from school after police lifted lockdown orders, she struggled to explain what happened:
"I just basically told him, there are not good people out there. I didn't tell him why because I don't know why," Roy said.
Mohamad Hamad lives so close to the scene that his back yard abuts the synagogue grounds. He said droves of officers swept his neighborhood after the attack.
Hamad is Muslim and said he wishes that more people could find the kind of common ground that he has with his many Jewish friends.
"We all are different, but we can't really make it like the only thing we have in life is that we're different," he said. "We're all human. That's what matters. That's what it is."
Hamad said he worries as much for other synagogues in the area as he does the mosque he attends. He fears the aggressive language from the U.S., Israel, and Iran amidst a war that started with joint U.S.-Israel strikes last month will only stoke more hate.
Michigan leaders react
Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement saying she was tracking developments.
“This is heartbreaking,” Whitmer said. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.”
One Michigan lawmaker called the attack his “worst nightmare” come to life.
State Representative Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) is a lifelong member of Temple Israel’s congregation. He said he was terrified when he got word of a possible active shooter inside the synagogue while at his desk in Lansing — but not completely surprised.
Arbit said one of his priorities in the state Legislature has been updating Michigan’s hate crime laws, and “being such an advocate on this issue, to have a hate crime terrorist attack targeting my own synagogue and my own district and my own community in my hometown is frankly just my worst nightmare.”
Arbit believes that a recent proliferation of antisemitic rhetoric has made Jews and Jewish institutions particular targets of violence. “I hope that the impact of this is that more people will stand up, speak out, and fight back on behalf of their Jewish neighbors and against antisemitism,” he said.
But Arbit added that he’s “incredibly grateful” to Temple Israel’s security team, preschool teachers, and other staff, as well as local law enforcement. He said their training and preparation paid off, “and they saved lives today, a tremendous number of lives.”
Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website. It offers educational programs for families and adults.
The website says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.”
The Jewish Federation of Detroit advised all Jewish organizations in the area “to go into lockout protocol — nobody in or out of your building.” WDIV-TV later reported that the organization had lifted its advisory.
Synagogues increased security since the start of Iran war
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on February 28.
The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group. An assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.
President Donald Trump said he had been fully briefed on the Michigan attack, calling it a “terrible thing.”
Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, lamented the fact that his organization had to train and prepare for an attack.
“I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but I’m not,” he said during a news conference Thursday.
He added: “This will not change us. This will not deter us and we will continue.”
