A man who rammed his vehicle into a Michigan synagogue on Thursday has died during the incident, officials have confirmed. The suspect, identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, drove into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield township, a suburb of Detroit, before crashing through a hallway. The FBI is treating the attack as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.
Ghazali, a Lebanese-born US citizen who entered the country in 2011, died at the scene. It remains unclear whether he was shot by security staff, died by suicide, or succumbed to injuries from the crash. The vehicle caught fire, and investigators found what appeared to be explosives inside. A security guard was injured by the vehicle and taken to hospital, while 30 officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
Temple Israel, which houses a preschool and family centre, confirmed that all 140 students and staff were safe. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard praised the security response, stating: 'Everything that was supposed to happen, happened. Security did their job, and then the responders did theirs.' The FBI had previously referred to the incident as a 'vehicle ramming and active shooter situation'.
President Donald Trump expressed solidarity with the Jewish community, while Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned the attack, saying: 'Antisemitism and violence have no place in Michigan.' The Council on American-Islamic Relations also denounced the violence. The incident comes amid heightened tensions, with the FBI having conducted active shooter training at the synagogue in January.
