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The armed man who rammed his vehicle into one of the largest Reform synagogues in the U.S. Thursday has been identified as a 41-year-old naturalized citizen born in Lebanon, according to federal officials.
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was fatally shot by security officers after driving through a hallway at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township near Detroit, Mich., in a vehicle that then caught fire, authorities said.
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.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community” and said at a news conference Thursday that the FBI is leading the investigation.
Investigators have not determined a motive yet.
None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood centre were injured, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.
At a late afternoon news conference, Bouchard said about 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
Police say a suspected gunman who attacked a Detroit-area synagogue with a vehicle is dead and that one security guard was injured during the incident. Police added that security exchanged gunfire with the suspect but did not say how the suspect died.
Largest Reform synagogue
Temple Israel calls itself the nation’s largest Reform synagogue, with 12,000 members, according to its website. In addition to the early childhood education centre, it offers educational programs for families and adults.
The website says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.”
Temple Israel released a statement on Thursday afternoon confirming that no one had been physically harmed in the attack, including the 140 students who were in the early childhood learning centre when the car barrelled in.
The statement credited security personnel who “confronted and neutralized” the driver, and said that teachers used established protocols to keep the children safe.
The statement also expressed gratitude for the Michigan community that came forward immediately following the attack to support members of the synagogue, including the Shenendoah Country Club that sheltered and fed staff, children and parents amid the chaos.
“What incredible neighbours we have. What incredible police force we have,” the message read.
Heightened security
In a statement, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called the attack “heartbreaking.”
“Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace,” the statement said.
Jewish organizations throughout the United States have been operating under heightened security since U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Iran on Feb. 28, sparking an intensifying war across the Middle East.
“We’ve been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening. So there was no lack of preparation,” Bouchard said on CNN. “All Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out.”
“Antisemitism has no place in Michigan and cannot be tolerated,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. “In moments like these, it’s more important than ever that we come together, stand with our neighbours, confront hate whenever it appears, and build stronger communities.”
Three synagogues in Ontario have been shot at in the past week — two in North York and one in Vaughan. No one was injured.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, said the Michigan attack demonstrates yet again the consequences of hatred.
“We lose our humanity when we seek violent means as a solution,” Myers said in a statement. “No one should dwell in fear because of who they are.”
Myers is rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 worshippers from three congregations were killed in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. The gunman is now on death row.