DHS identifies Temple Israel attacker as Lebanese-born naturalized citizen; no congregants killed

Federal authorities have identified the man who rammed a vehicle into a Michigan synagogue Thursday as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, as the FBI opened an investigation into the attack as an act of targeted antisemitic violence.

The Department of Homeland Security identified Ghazali, who entered the United States in May 2011 at Detroit Metropolitan International Airport on an IR1 immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, and was granted U.S. citizenship in February 2016.

Ghazali, who was armed with a rifle, was found dead in his vehicle after security opened fire and the truck became engulfed in flames at Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan. The truck swerved around bollards, crashed through Temple Israel’s front doors and drove down the hall before security personnel opened fire.

The FBI’s Detroit field office had conducted an active shooter prevention and preparedness training for staff and clergy at Temple Israel in January. Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny credited that training for the controlled response.

“All of the training that we do is, sadly, necessary, but we saw today that it paid off,” she said. “Everyone knew what to do.”

Nobody inside the synagogue was hurt. All 140 students, as well as staff, teachers and security personnel, were accounted for, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard. The sheriff said one synagogue security guard was struck by the suspect’s truck and knocked unconscious but was expected to recover. The building became engulfed in fire during the attack, and 30 law enforcement officers were transported to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.

Law enforcement sources said the truck contained fireworks and an unidentified chemical agent that ignited shortly after the crash.

Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, confirmed that the bureau has taken the lead in the investigation.

“I can confirm that we are leading the investigation right now as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” Ms. Runyan said during a Thursday evening press conference.

Authorities said a motive has not been publicly established, and the investigation remains ongoing.

A source in Michigan’s Lebanese American community told CBS News that an airstrike roughly 10 days prior on the Lebanese village where Ghazali’s family lived killed several of his relatives, leaving him devastated. The source said Ghazali had recently stopped working and was spending time alone at home. Shortly before Thursday’s attack, he called his ex-wife and told her to take care of their children, which alarmed her, prompting her to contact police and relatives to check on him.

The mayor of the eastern Lebanese town of Mashgharah confirmed to NPR that Ghazali’s brothers were killed in an Israeli strike on March 5, and that other family members, including a 7-year-old nephew and 4-year-old niece, were injured and hospitalized.

Synagogues in the Detroit area were placed on temporary lockdown following the attack. Police in New York City and Washington, D.C., increased their patrols around Jewish cultural institutions out of an abundance of caution.