WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) \u2014 The armed man who rammed his vehicle into one of the nation\u2019s largest Reform synagogues 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, Michigan, in a vehicle that then caught fire, authorities said.
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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\u2019s Detroit field office, called the crime a \u201ctargeted 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.
\u201cWhat drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,\u201d said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
None of the synagogue\u2019s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, Bouchard said.
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, the sheriff said. And 30 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Temple security officers \u201cengaged the individual and neutralized the threat.\u201d
The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, according to Bouchard.
Cassi Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was standing at the hallway where the crash happened. She said she heard a loud bang, grabbed a few staff members, ran into her office and locked the door.
\u201cWhen I heard the crash, I knew it was bad,\u201d Cohen said.
She said a classroom was near where the car rammed the synagogue and, in addition to the children, who were as old as 4, there were also more than 30 staff members in the synagogue.
\u201cThankfully, we have had many active shooter drills and our staff is prepared for these situations,\u201d she said.
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, calling them the \u201ctrue rock stars of the day.\u201d
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\u2019s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.
\u201cThere are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,\u201d she told the AP. \u201cI was hoping that it was a false report.\u201d
Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that\u2019s going on in the world.
\u201cYou never think that this is actually going to happen to you,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I know that it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.\u201d
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and have been 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 \u201cterrible thing.\u201d
Steven Ingber, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Detroit, lamented the fact that his organization had to train and prepare for an attack.
\u201cI\u2019d love to say that I\u2019m shocked, that I\u2019m surprised, but I\u2019m not,\u201d he said during a news conference Thursday.
Oakland County is Michigan\u2019s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.
\u201cThis is heartbreaking,\u201d Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. \u201cMichigan\u2019s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.\u201d
It was the second attack 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 \u201canti-religious beliefs\u201d against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website, which says the synagogue is \u201cpassionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe\u201d and that its mission is to \u201ccreate a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism.\u201d
The Jewish Federation of Detroit briefly advised all Jewish organizations in the area to lock down.
Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, a survivor of the 2018 Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, said in a statement that the Michigan attack demonstrates yet again the consequences of hatred.
\u201cWe lose our humanity when we seek violent means as a solution,\u201d said Myers, rabbi of the Tree of Life Congregation, where 11 worshippers died in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history. \u201cNo one should dwell in fear because of who they are.\u201d
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This story has been corrected to show that the shooting at a church north of Detroit happened in September, not October.
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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.<\/p>\n