Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images
By Hannah Feuer and Louis KeeneMarch 12, 2026
A man rammed his truck into a major Detroit-area synagogue Thursday afternoon, dying at the scene following an exchange of gunfire with on-site security staff.
The FBI and local law enforcement responded to reports of an attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, a prominent Reform synagogue that also hosts a preschool and K-12 religious school.
Sheriff Mike Bouchard of Oakland County said the man drove through the building’s front doors and down a hallway, hitting the synagogue’s security director and knocking him unconscious. A second security guard then opened fire on the suspect. Bouchard said it was unclear whether the suspect, who was found dead in the vehicle, had been killed by the guard or turned a gun on himself.
“Security did their job,” Bouchard said.
No one at the synagogue was hurt other than the security guard, who was brought to the hospital and is expected to recover, Bouchard said.
Photo and video reported by local news showed smoke billowing from the synagogue building and a massive police presence in the area. Bouchard said that something had ignited in the vehicle, causing the smoke.
Rabbi Jen Lader of Temple Israel told Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s Asaf Elia-Shalev that the attacker got out of the car “with semiautomatic weapons and was very prepared with smoke bombs and fireworks and all sorts of stuff.”
About 140 children were in the preschool at the time, and Bouchard said they were all safe and accounted for, along with their teachers.
The attack comes amid a wave of antisemitic attacks at synagogues in North America and heightened concerns of antisemitism following the U.S. and Israel’s joint attack on Iran.
Shots were fired at three congregations in Toronto, Canada over the past two weeks and an explosion in front of a synagogue in Belgium earlier this week being investigated as an act of terrorism. In January, an arsonist set fire to Beth Israel Congregation in Mississippi, reducing much of the synagogue to rubble.
Bouchard said religious institutions in the area had been on high alert in the last few weeks, adding that the chief of police had recently been in touch with the synagogue’s head of security, though law enforcement were not aware of any specific threats directed to Temple Israel.
The FBI said two months ago it had conducted an active shooter training with Temple Israel clergy and staff. The FBI and other security groups had also provided training to the Colleyville synagogue where hostages were taken in 2022, which Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker credited for saving the hostages’ lives.
Bouchard added that police are continuing to search the area for any potential explosive devices.
A lockdown has been lifted after police directed schools and houses of worship in the area to shelter in place.
Temple Israel advertises itself as the largest Reform synagogue in the nation, according to its website, with its outdoor summer services often drawing upwards of 1,500 people.
The synagogue calendar listed an exercise class for seniors, “Movement on the Mind,” scheduled for Thursday afternoon, along with a food pantry program and a few other events.
“This is heartbreaking. Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer posted to X. “Antisemitism and violence have no place in Michigan.”
Hannah Feuer joined the Forward as a general assignment reporter in May 2025 after two years as a culture reporter at Seven Days, an independent weekly in Burlington, Vermont. Originally from the Washington, D.C., area, she is a 2023 graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Louis Keene is a reporter for the Forward. His work has also been published in The New York Times, New York magazine and Vice. He is based in Los Angeles.