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Authorities identified the suspect in Thursday's brazen attack on Temple Israel, a Reform synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, as Ayman, wait for it . . . Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old Lebanese-born man who entered the United States in 2011 and became a naturalized citizen in 2016 after arriving in the US in 2011.
Ghazali, who worked in a restaurant in Dearborn Heights, is dead after a shootout with armed security on the temple grounds.
"We can't say what killed him at this point," Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said at a news conference, "but security did engage the suspect with gunfire." It's possible this jihadi killed himself and hopes to get his 72 virgins, but it becomes null and void if he offed himself, or so they say.
The suspect drove his vehicle into the building and then shots were fired, the West Bloomfield police department confirmed.
Ghazali was armed with a rifle and killed in the exchange with synagogue security, according to reports.
His vehicle caught fire, burning inside the structure. Bouchard noted that the suspect's truck struck a security guard, knocking him unconscious, marking the only reported injury from the incident. Law enforcement also discovered what appeared to be explosives in the back of the vehicle.
Those inside the synagogue and in surrounding areas were told to shelter in place while police worked to determine if anyone else was involved. Several children were evacuated from the building and moved to a safer location.
"We just tell people [to] shelter in place for at least a mile area until we determine that there's no one else that maybe was on foot and fled the area, until we figure out exactly what's going on," Bouchard said.
Bouchard added that "Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out."
Temple Israel released a statement on Facebook declaring that it "was the victim of a terrorist gunman who was confronted and neutralized by our security personnel." All 140 students attending classes at the time, along with teachers and staff, are "accounted for and safe," the synagogue thankfully confirmed.
This incident comes amid heightened security at synagogues nationwide following the surge in anti-Semitic violence since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks. The Anti-Defamation League's 2024 audit highlighted a sharp rise in bomb threats and other harassment targeting synagogues, including messages like: "You Jews will pay for your crimes, we will end your lives," along with anti-Israel content. Sounds like the criminals are projecting a wee bit.
Other recent cases include, wait for it . . . Mohamed . . . Sabry Soliman, charged with hate crimes last June for throwing Molotov cocktails at pro-Israel demonstrators while yelling "Free Palestine," and Elias Rodriguez, who shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. the prior month. When caught, Rodriguez declared, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza."
FBI Director Kash Patel separately confirmed that federal authorities "are on the scene with partners in Michigan."
Those inside the synagogue and in surrounding areas were told to shelter in place while police worked to determine if anyone else was involved. Several children were evacuated from the building and moved to a safer location.
"We just tell people [to] shelter in place for at least a mile area until we determine that there's no one else that maybe was on foot and fled the area, until we figure out exactly what's going on," Bouchard said.
Bouchard added that "Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out."
Temple Israel released a statement on Facebook declaring that it "was the victim of a terrorist gunman who was confronted and neutralized by our security personnel." All 140 students attending classes at the time, along with teachers and staff, are "accounted for and safe," the synagogue thankfully confirmed.
This incident comes amid heightened security at synagogues nationwide following the surge in anti-Semitic violence since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks. The Anti-Defamation League's 2024 audit highlighted a sharp rise in bomb threats and other harassment targeting synagogues, including messages like: "You Jews will pay for your crimes, we will end your lives," along with anti-Israel content. Sounds like the criminals are projecting a wee bit.
Other recent cases include, wait for it . . . Mohamed . . . Sabry Soliman, charged with hate crimes last June for throwing Molotov cocktails at pro-Israel demonstrators while yelling "Free Palestine," and Elias Rodriguez, who shot and killed two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. the prior month. When caught, Rodriguez declared, "I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza."
FBI Director Kash Patel separately confirmed that federal authorities "are on the scene with partners in Michigan."
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