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Michigan synagogue car-ramming suspect bought $2,000 worth of fireworks before attack

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Michigan synagogue car-ramming suspect bought ,000 worth of fireworks before attack


Two days before federal authorities say Ayman Mohamad Ghazali carried out Thursday’s antisemitic terror attack at a synagogue outside Detroit, the driver in the car-ramming violence allegedly walked out of a fireworks store with more than $2,000 worth of explosives.

Speaking exclusively with NBC News, Phantom Fireworks said that a person who registered as Ayman Ghazali visited one of the company’s Detroit-area stores at 1:39 p.m. March 10 and spent about 45 minutes inside.

Days later, Ghazali allegedly rammed a pickup into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, setting off a fire at the synagogue where a preschool attended by more than 100 children was in session, officials said. None of the children or staff members were injured.

Ghazali, a Dearborn Heights resident, was killed by the synagogue’s security team following the attack.

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The FBI on Friday said that Ghazali was “forensically confirmed” as the assailant. Prior, officials said they believed he was the synagogue attacker, but were awaiting forensics as the driver’s body was badly burned.

Ghazali had no previous criminal history, no registered weapons, and he had never been the subject of a FBI investigation, Jennifer Runyan, the Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit field office, said in a news briefing Friday.

She did not speak on a motive for the attack, but the FBI has previously said it is investigating the incident as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.”

Officials did not mention what caused the fire, but in the vehicle, investigators found multiple gas canisters and consumer mortar tubes that would be used to launch fireworks, according to two senior officials briefed on the investigation.

The fireworks purchase was one of several facts about Ghazali’s background leading up to the attack that came into focus Friday.

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Ghazali, a U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon, lost several family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last week, according to local officials in Michigan. The strike killed two of his brothers, who were known to be members of Hezbollah, and his niece and nephew, an official told NBC News.

Investigators are looking into Ghazali’s possible ties to suspected members of Hezbollah in Lebanon, according to a source familiar with the matter. He had been questioned several times about these possible contacts upon his return to the U.S. from overseas, the source said.

In recent weeks, hundreds of people in Lebanon have been killed and more than 750,000 people displaced amid escalating Israeli attacks, which were launched after Hezbollah struck Israel in retaliation for the war on Iran.

In Michigan, Alan Zoldan, Phantom Fireworks’ executive vice president, said the store employee who rang up Ghazali’s order recalled that “he certainly had no appearance of nervousness.”

“He was going to be celebrating Eid, you know, the end of the Ramadan,” Zoldan said. Eid al-Fitr, a holiday celebrated by Muslims to mark the end of the fast, is next week.

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Phantom Fireworks said it requires all customers to register their identification before making a purchase. After the synagogue attack, the company found Ghazali’s name and address in its records, which it said federal investigators requested by subpoena.

Video Phantom Fireworks shared with NBC News shows the man who identified himself as Ghazali, 41, walking into the store and registering his identification at the front desk before he starts shopping. About 15 minutes later, he walks up to the register with a mostly full cart, fills out paperwork and begins checking out. Once all the items are scanned and on the counter, he turns the cart around and continues shopping for roughly 5 more minutes.

About 20 minutes later, footage shows the man pushing the cart out of the store to a waiting pickup. He loads the truck bed, hands the cart off to the store employee and drives off.

Ghazali bought roughly 30 different types of items from Phantom Fireworks, including a “finale rack” product that the manufacturer says should be lit with people at least 100 yards away.
Ghazali bought roughly 30 different types of items from Phantom Fireworks, including a “finale rack” product that the company says should be lit with people at least 100 yards away.Courtesy Phantom Fireworks

Ghazali bought roughly 20 types of items from Phantom Fireworks, including a “finale rack” product that the company says should be lit with people at least 100 yards away.

It’s not clear if fireworks purchased from this store were used in the synagogue attack.

The company also said that a $2,000 purchase is not inherently noteworthy.

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“For our, you know, biggest customers that are going big at home — which we have so many of — spending $2,000, $5,000, $10,000 happens repeatedly … $5,000 and $10,000 is actually pretty common,” said Phantom Fireworks vice president Jessi Dragoiu.

Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun condemned the attack Friday, saying: “We do know that the individual had recently suffered devastating and personal losses overseas due to an Israeli air strike on his family’s home in Lebanon, leaving two children dead. Grief is real, and it’s heartbreaking, but let me be clear, that is not an excuse.”

Dearborn Heights police chief Michael Guzowski said any relevant records and background information were shared with investigators. He said there’s no credible information indicating an ongoing threat to residents and the city has increased monitoring as a precaution.

In a news briefing on Friday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called the attack an act of antisemitism.

“It was hate, plain and simple,” Whitmer said at the briefing. “We will fight this ancient and rampant evil. We will stand together as we do it, and we will call it out. We must lower the rhetoric in this state and in this country, especially at this moment where we have seen such a rise in anti-Semitism and more attacks on the Jewish community.”

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The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office referred NBC News to the FBI. The FBI declined to comment on this story.



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Michigan Recruiting Intel: Quarterback updates, notes on top targets

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Michigan Recruiting Intel: Quarterback updates, notes on top targets


The Wolverine Football Recruiting

Ethan McDowell@ethanmmcdowell

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Jayden Wade (Photo by Chad Simmons)

Michigan is recruiting a talented group of quarterbacks for the 2028 cycle. Here’s a look at the Wolverines’ top targets.



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Michigan president has strong words for college sports after Dusty May exit

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Michigan president has strong words for college sports after Dusty May exit


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At the University of Michigan’s board of regents meeting on Thursday, June 25, interim president Domenico Grasso addressed the departure of former Michigan basketball coach Dusty May, calling the move a “bellwether” for college athletics.

May, who had reportedly agreed in principle to a contract extension with the Wolverines but had yet to sign it, left the program on Monday, June 22. One day later, he was in Brooklyn for the NBA Draft where his Dallas Mavericks selected his former player, Michigan forward Morez Johnson Jr., with the No. 9 overall pick.

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“Our current system is in dire need of clarity and equitable reform,” Grasso said at the regents meeting. “Coach May told me that among his reasons for leaving were uncertainties and pressures involving the transfer portal and NIL support for student-athletes.

“He and I agree that the future of college sports is headed in the wrong direction.”

While Grasso did say the new “Protect College Sports Act” could provide “greater stability, clearer national standards and more consistent rules” to college athletics, he also said it has “deeply concerning provisions.”

“Rather than looking to conferences such as the Big Ten as models of athletic and academic excellence, it imposes restrictions that disproportionately affect the institution,” he said. “Among the most troubling provisions are targeted limits on conference expansion and realignment, as well as harmful restrictions on student athletes’ ability to benefit from additional NIL opportunities. These measures will reduce universities and conferences’ flexibility to adapt to changing conditions for student innovative opportunities.

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“We want what’s best for the Big Ten and for Michigan. We are not going to sacrifice competitive advantage that we built for more than a century. We stand ready to work with legislators on a bill that will establish a system in which every university can compete and thrive for generations to come.”

May spent just two years in Ann Arbor but made a lasting mark on the program. He went 64-13 during his time, won the 2024-25 Big Ten Tournament championship, the 2025-26 Big Ten championship and finished his time in Ann Arbor defeating UConn, 69-63, to win the national championship on Monday, April 6.

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“When my family and I came to Ann Arbor two years ago, we hoped we could help bring Michigan basketball back to where it belongs,” May said in a goodbye statement to U-M. “This wasn’t an easy decision. An opportunity came along that was right for my family and something I felt I needed to pursue, but that doesn’t change how much these last two years have meant to us.

“Thank you for trusting us, believing in us and making these last two years so much fun. It was an honor to coach at Michigan and wear the Block M.”

On Tuesday, June 23, Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel officially announced assistant basketball coach Mike Boynton Jr. would be appointed as interim head coach.

That set a clock for the transfer portal to open for U-M players on Friday, July 24, 31 days after Boynton’s appointment as interim.

Tony Garcia is the Michigan beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.

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Michigan’s single-stair reform gains as housing package languishes

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Michigan’s single-stair reform gains as housing package languishes





Michigan’s single-stair reform gains as housing package languishes















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