New details are emerging about the man behind the Michigan synagogue attack suspect investigation, including a personal tragedy overseas that sources say happened just days before the violent incident.
Authorities say 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drove a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday afternoon before dying at the scene. The FBI described the incident as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.” No congregants were killed, though a synagogue security guard was injured during the crash.
Sources in Michigan’s Lebanese American community told CBS News that an Israeli airstrike roughly ten days before the attack killed two of Ghazali’s brothers, along with several other relatives in Lebanon. A freelance journalist working with CBS News in Lebanon later confirmed the brothers were members of a Hezbollah rocket unit in southern Lebanon.
According to the source, the deaths deeply affected Ghazali. People who knew him said he had withdrawn from work and was spending long periods alone at home in the days leading up to the incident.
Investigators say the suspect arrived at Temple Israel around midday Thursday and waited in the parking lot for more than two hours before carrying out the crash.
Around 1:35 p.m., police received reports of gunfire near the synagogue complex. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the suspect then drove a vehicle through the entrance and down a hallway inside the building.
Security personnel quickly confronted the driver.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyon said the vehicle became stuck in the hallway while the suspect fired shots through the windows. Authorities say the vehicle contained fireworks and containers filled with flammable liquid. Investigators believe a fire started inside the glove compartment before the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Officials also confirmed the man had purchased roughly $2,250 worth of fireworks from a Phantom Fireworks store in Livonia two days earlier. Store staff said he told them the fireworks were for the end of Ramadan.
Federal officials said Ghazali was born in Lebanon and entered the United States legally in 2011 through Detroit Metropolitan Airport. He later became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016.
Community members in Dearborn Heights described him as kind and well-liked, saying the news of the attack shocked many people who had known him for years.
Temple Israel officials said 140 young students were inside the building during the incident. Staff members followed emergency procedures and secured the children and teachers until police arrived.
Rabbi Josh Bennett said recent training helped staff respond quickly.
“We knew something like this might happen. Of course, we hope and pray that it never does come to pass, but when it does, they prepared us with active-shooter trainings,” Bennett said.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called the attack “every community’s worst nightmare” and said it was “hate, plain and simple.”
The FBI continues investigating the case as agents review evidence and search the suspect’s home to determine a final motive.
