FBI probes Michigan synagogue attack as targeted violence, antisemitism

By Elyse Apel
The Center Square

An armed attacker rammed a vehicle into a Michigan synagogue and school Thursday before being shot and killed by the temple’s security staff in what the FBI is investigating as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.

The attack occurred at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, about 25 miles northwest of Detroit, and prompted a large law enforcement response as authorities evacuated the building and secured the area.

None of the people inside the synagogue were seriously injured or killed. Temple officials said about 140 children were at the facility’s on-site child care center at the time.

“Everyone is safe,” the synagogue wrote in a social media post several hours after the attack.

Video from the scene showed black smoke rising from the building after the suspect’s vehicle caught fire inside the building. Less than two hours after the attack, reports were released that the suspect in the attack was dead. Authorities later said the suspect was killed by the synagogue’s security staff.

Multiple media outlets have identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen. The Associated Press reported Ghazali had lost four family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon last week.

Officials have not confirmed a motive.

Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, said the agency is leading the investigation and described the attack as a targeted act of violence.

“This is a deeply disturbing and tragic incident, and our deepest sympathies are with the victims, their families, and the entire Jewish community,” Runyan said at a press conference in West Bloomfield on Thursday evening. “I can confirm that the FBI is leading this investigation as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a news conference on Friday the attack was motivated by antisemitism.

“Yesterday’s attack was antisemitism. It was hate, plain and simple,” Whitmer said. “We will fight this ancient and rampant evil. We will stand together as we do it, and we will call it out.”

Whitmer said rising threats against Jewish communities make it critical for people to speak out against hate.

“This community is on the edge,” she said. “It is important for us to stand up, to stand against it, and to call out where we see acts of antisemitism and threats.”

President Donald Trump also addressed the incident Thursday.

“I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in the Detroit area following the attack on the Jewish synagogue early today,” Trump said. “I’ve been fully briefed — and it’s a terrible thing . . . We’re going to get right down to the bottom of it.”

The attack comes amid a broader rise in antisemitic incidents in the United States and globally. Jewish institutions, including synagogues and schools, have increasingly strengthened security measures in recent months.

The incident also echoes a September 2025 attack in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, when a gunman rammed a vehicle into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building, opened fire and set the structure on fire. That incident led to the deaths of five people, including the suspect.

This investigation is ongoing.