Investigators work to determine exact reason for attack at Michigan
synagogue
[March 13, 2026]
By COREY WILLIAMS and ALANNA DURKIN RICHER
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Investigators worked Friday to determine
the exact reason a man with a rifle crashed into a large Michigan
synagogue in what federal officials are saying was an attack carried out
by a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was killed by security after ramming into Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit, Michigan, and driving
down a hallway in a vehicle that then caught fire, according to
authorities.
The FBI, which is leading the investigation, described the attack on one
of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues as an act of violence
targeting the Jewish community.
The synagogue’s staff, teachers and 140 children at its early childhood
center were not injured, according to Oakland County Sheriff Mike
Bouchard.
Ghazali came to the U.S. in 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the
spouse of a U.S. citizen and was granted U.S. citizenship in 2016,
according to the Department of Homeland Security.
In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue. One
security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did
not suffer life-threatening injuries, Bouchard said. And 30 law
enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
Cassi Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was in
the hallway where the crash happened. She described hearing a loud bang
and said she 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 the crash happened near a classroom and, in addition to the
children, there were also more than 30 staff members in the synagogue.
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.
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.
[to top of second column]
|
Law enforcement respond to a call at Temple Israel synagogue,
Thursday, March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP
Photo/Corey Williams)
“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she said.
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 Feb. 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.
And 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 attack,
calling it a “terrible thing.”
Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, said
Thursday: “I’d love to say that I’m shocked, that I’m surprised, but
I’m not."
The attack was the second at a house of worship in Michigan within
the past year. Last September, a former Marine fatally shot four
people at a church north of Detroit and set it ablaze. The FBI later
said he was motivated by “anti-religious beliefs” against The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3
million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live
there. Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website.
___
Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press
reporters Ed White in Detroit; Todd Richmond in Madison, Wisconsin;
John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Eric Tucker in Washington, D.C., and
Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
