Michigan synagogue attacker's relatives killed in recent airstrike

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI – Relatives of the man who attacked one of the nation’s largest synagogues were killed in a recent airstrike in Lebanon amid the U.S.-Israel war with Iran, a Michigan mayor and a neighbor said.

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Lebanon, rammed his truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township before he was fired upon by security guards in a hallway on Thursday, March 12, officials say.

No children, clergy or staff members were wounded in the attack and over 140 students and staff at the temple's preschool were safely evacuated. A security guard was hit by the truck and is expected to survive, said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.

Mo Baydoun, the mayor of Dearborn Heights, where the suspect lived, said Ghazali "lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon" earlier in March. One of Ghazali's neighbors told The Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, that Ghazali's brother was killed in an airstrike.

Law enforcement officials declined to reveal any details about a potential motive, saying only that “what happens around the world sometimes affects us.”

The attack broke out as authorities increased security around places of worship nationwide in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, which have led to widening conflicts across the Middle East.

On the same day as the attack at Temple Israel, a gunman killed one person and injured two others in a shooting at Old Dominion University, which authorities are investigating as an act of terrorism. The FBI described the incident at Temple Israel as a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community."

Here’s what we know.

What happened at Temple Israel?

First responders were called to the scene around 12:20 p.m., according to West Bloomfield Police Department Chief Dale Young. Ghazali rammed his truck into the temple and entered a synagogue hallway where security staff opened fire and "neutralized the threat,” Young said. Authorities later recovered a firearm from the scene.

The truck caught fire, and around 30 law enforcement officers were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, Bouchard said. Video from the scene showed smoke billowing from the temple.

The attack triggered shelter-in-place orders that affected nearby schools as well as homes and businesses within a mile of the synagogue. All nearby Jewish organizations also went into a temporary lockdown, officials said.

At Temple Israel, staffers quickly hustled classrooms full of preschoolers across the street to Shenandoah Country Club, where children reunited with their parents. During a news conference, Rabbi Arianna Gordon lauded the swift work of both law enforcement and teachers at the synagogue's early childhood center.

"They ensured that all of our children remained safe and calm throughout the entire day and got every single child safely reunited with their parents this afternoon and for that I can’t express my gratitude enough," Gordon said.

What do we know about the suspect?

Ghazali was born in Lebanon in January 1985 and entered the U.S. in May 2010 on an IR1 immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Ghazali applied for naturalization in 2015 and was granted U.S. citizenship on Feb. 5, 2016.

Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said in a statement that several of Ghazali's family members were killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier in March. Kandie Zaidieh, who lived down the block from Ghazali, described him as a hard worker who was well-liked in the neighborhood.

“He was always pleasant. Everybody liked him," she told The Detroit Free Press. Zaidieh said that a day before the attack, she found out that Ghazali’s brother was killed in an airstrike in Lebanon. She said she planned to bring him flowers.

Employees at the popular shawarma stop, Hamido, down the street, told the Free Press that Ghazali worked there and was “so, so nice” but wouldn’t grant an interview.

Since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran started on Feb. 28, over 600 people have been killed in Lebanon as Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah trade blows. Wayne County, where the suspect lived, has the highest percentage of Lebanese Americans among counties in the U.S., many of them with family affected by the war.

What was the motive?

Law enforcement officials said they are still working to piece together what exactly led to the attack.

"Obviously it’s a hateful, terrible thing but what drove this person into action, that has to be determined by the investigation," Bouchard told reporters.

FBI Detroit’s Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan called the attack a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community." Bouchard suggested the attack came in response to global tensions as war rages in the Middle East: "Obviously what happens around the world sometimes affects us."

Temple Israel prepared for an attack

The attack happened at Temple Israel, a synagogue about 25 miles northwest of Detroit that describes itself as the "the nation’s largest Reform synagogue," with more than 12,000 congregants. It dates back to 1941, according to its website.

In January, Temple Israel's clergy and staff members participated in an active shooter training led by the FBI, according to a post on X from the bureau's Detroit field office.

When the attacker rammed his truck through the temple doors, staffers in the building relied on their training.

"Because of the work of our security team and because of the work of our staff, our children just thought an alarm had gone off," Rabbi Joshua Bennett told The Detroit Free Press. "They were playing with their family and friends."

Contributing: Bart Jansen and Michael Loria of USA TODAY; John Wisely, Nushrat Rahman and Darcie Moran of The Detroit Free Press