Runyan further stated that the terrorist killed himself during a gunfight with security guards after his truck got stuck in Temple Israel Synagogue’s hallway.
Michigan
Michigan shooter filled truck with fireworks, shot himself | The Jerusalem Post
The suspect in Thursday’s terror attack on a West Bloomfield, Michigan, synagogue had filled his vehicle with fireworks before ramming it into the building, according to a Friday statement by FBI Special Agent Jennifer Runyan.
The attacker had purchased $2,000 worth of fireworks from a Detroit-area shop two days prior to the attack, according to NBC News.
The suspect, identified on Thursday as Ayman Ghazali by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was the only person killed in the attack, which injured the synagogue’s security director.
41-year-old Ghazali immigrated to the US from Lebanon and became a naturalized citizen in 2016. He had recently lost family members in Lebanon due to an IDF airstrike, according to Friday media reports.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said in a statement that the suspect had lost a sibling, a niece, and a nephew. The IDF has not commented on the incident.
Following the attack, West Bloomfield County Police Chief Dale Young praised the quick and effective security response, which he said he believed helped prevent further casualties.
“I am deeply proud of the response, not only from the security that was on site, but also of all the police officers and the firefighters that are here right now,” Young said. “We train on active shooter events a lot. I think that training certainly helped to mitigate what happened here today.”
Temple Israel Synagogue, widely known as America’s largest Reform congregation, also houses a preschool, which, according to CBS News, was in session at the time of the shooting.
Attack ‘a frightening and painful reminder’
Chair of the Jewish Federations of North America Gary Torgow, a longtime leader in Detroit’s Jewish community, said the attack was a painful reminder that antisemitism remains an active danger to US Jews.
“Today’s heinous attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, is a frightening and painful reminder that antisemitism continues to be a real and present threat to our Jewish communities,” Torgow told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
The DHS has been shut down since February 14 due to a political standoff over immigration enforcement, which has halted the review of millions of dollars in security funding for nonprofits, potentially endangering Jewish institutions amid heightened concern about antisemitic threats.