\n Less than two hours later, an explosives-laden vehicle plowed into the Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township<\/a>, setting it ablaze in what the FBI called<\/a> a \u201ctargeted act of violence against the Jewish community.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The perpetrator was a Lebanese-born US citizen who reportedly lost family members in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon, officials said. He was the only person who died in the attack \u2013 but it was not immediately clear how.\n <\/p>\n \n At least 30 first responders were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, authorities said. A security guard who was struck by the vehicle is expected to recover<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n The attacks are among four acts of violence that have rattled Americans\u2019 collective consciousness in recent weeks. The two attacks on Thursday came just days after two terror suspects were accused of tossing makeshift bombs<\/a> at a protest outside the New York City mayor\u2019s home Saturday in what authorities have described as an ISIS-inspired attack\n <\/p>\n Old Dominion University gunman identified as veteran, convicted ISIS supporter\n <\/p>\n Old Dominion University gunman identified as veteran, convicted ISIS supporter<\/p>\n 2:47 <\/p>\n \n Less than two weeks earlier in Austin, Texas, a shooter wearing a hoodie emblazoned with the Iranian flag killed three people<\/a> and injured over a dozen others in the city\u2019s bustling entertainment district. Though the motive is still under investigation, authorities are investigating whether the shooter was inspired in part by US and Israeli strikes on Iran that weekend, multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the case said.\n <\/p>\n \n The country is in a \u201cheightened threat environment\u201d since the onset of the war with Iran, a \u201cstate sponsor of terrorism,\u201d said Jeh Johnson, Homeland Security secretary under President Obama. He urged people to remain \u201cvigilant.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Here are the latest developments in the two Thursday attacks:\n <\/p>\n Suspect identified: The suspect in the synagogue ramming attack has been identified by DHS as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon and became a US citizen in 2016.<\/p>\n Officers sent to hospital: At least 30 law enforcement officers from various agencies were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and a security guard, one of several on scene who stopped the attack, was hit by the vehicle and is expected to recover, officials said.<\/p>\n Possible tie to Israeli airstrike: Authorities are investigating reports that the man told people he had multiple family members who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon in recent days, multiple law enforcement officials told CNN. \u201cEarlier this month, he lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon,\u201d Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said in a statement denouncing<\/a> the synagogue attack.<\/p>\n Though the motive in the attack is still unknown, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said there is a clear \u201cnexus\u201d between the Iran war and the attack, adding it\u2019s no coincidence the suspect targeted a synagogue named Temple Israel.<\/p>\n Shooter identified as convicted ISIS supporter: The gunman was identified by the FBI as 36-year-old Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former Virginia National Guard member who pleaded guilty to attempting to aid ISIS in 2016.<\/p>\n \ufeffStudents take down attacker: Jalloh opened fire inside a classroom of ROTC students who did not hesitate to confront their attacker. The students subdued and killed the shooter, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Dominique Evans. One of the students stabbed Jalloh, according to multiple law enforcement sources briefed on the case. The attacker\u2019s ultimate cause of death is unclear.<\/p>\n Victim identified: The person who was killed was Lt. Col. Brandon Shah, according to Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who described him as a devoted ROTC instructor who \u201cdidn\u2019t just lead a life of service to our country, he taught and led others to follow that path.\u201d Two university students were wounded, Old Dominion University President Brian Hemphill said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n Temple Israel synagogue was on alert over the last two weeks, queued up with security officers after the West Bloomfield Township police chief had warned synagogues in the area about the potential for violence.\n <\/p>\n \n Their concerns were realized on Thursday just after noon when a suspect, armed with a rifle and a large amount of explosives, rammed \u201call the way\u201d into the Detroit-area synagogue in a \u201ctargeted act of violence against the Jewish community,\u201d officials said.\n <\/p>\n \n Congregants were instructed to shelter in place as teachers looked after the children, helping them to stay calm, said Rabbi Arianna Gordon, the synagogue\u2019s director of education. \u201cWe did hear the sound of shooting. We smelled smoke,\u201d she told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Boris Krasnow, the parent of a 1-year-old boy who was at the temple\u2019s day care, described the wait for information as \u201csurreal.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s strange how almost calm you are because you can\u2019t afford to panic. Just keep refreshing your phone, trying to find out what\u2019s going on,\u201d he told CNN affiliate WXYZ<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Multiple security officers on site were praised for stopping the threat, which kept students safe and calm in an incident that could have been \u201cfar worse,\u201d said Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.\n <\/p>\n DHS: Suspected synagogue attacker a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen\n <\/p>\n DHS: Suspected synagogue attacker a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen<\/p>\n 1:51 <\/p>\n \n While security did engage the suspect with gunfire, the sheriff could not say yet what killed the suspect. Something caught fire inside the vehicle, Bouchard said.\n <\/p>\n \n The suspect\u2019s body was badly burnt, two sources familiar with the matter said.\n <\/p>\n \n While further investigation will uncover exactly what happened, the synagogue became engulfed in flames and dozens of officers who went into the building to search for additional threats were later treated at the hospital after inhaling a \u201csignificant amount of smoke inhalation,\u201d Bouchard said.\n <\/p>\n \n Over 100 FBI agents and analysts were mobilized in an effort to mitigate and respond to the threat while also pursuing leads, the agency said. The FBI is working with state, local and federal partners to investigate the attack, said Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI\u2019s Detroit field office.\n <\/p>\n \n The sheriff texted with the temple\u2019s head of security just two days prior as law enforcement has remained in contact with houses of worship throughout the area over the past two weeks, he said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf you think you can target the Jewish community in this county or anywhere in this state, you\u2019re wrong. We\u2019re going to not only stand in front of them to protect them, we\u2019re coming for you,\u201d Bouchard said. \u201c\u2026What happens around the world sometimes affects us, so we have to think about it and be prepared for it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The ramming attack is the latest in a series of incidents at a Jewish facility or event in the US and abroad, as the number of antisemitic incidents has been on the rise for the past four years in the US, Anti-Defamation League data shows.\n <\/p>\n \n Security is nothing new for Temple Israel, nor for Jewish institutions across North America, which spend about $765 million per year on security costs, according to the Jewish Federations of North America. In the aftermath of Thursday\u2019s attack, law enforcement across the country is ramping up efforts to protect religious institutions.\n <\/p>\n \n Temple Israel has constantly worried about being a target and has increased security \u201cover the last number of years,\u201d said Rabbi Gordon. \u201c\u2026 All of our security for that length of time has really reflected that we are fully aware of what the world looks like today for the Jewish community.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Old Dominion University student Zachary Mulder recalls the sinking feeling he had when he heard people screaming \u201cshooter\u201d and \u201cgun\u201d as they ran from the academic building where he had just been sitting in class.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMy heart dropped,\u201d Mulder told CNN affiliate WTKR<\/a>. \u201cIt was pretty scary at that point, because I didn\u2019t know really what was going on or how close the threat was.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The threat was inside a classroom of ROTC students in Constant Hall, where Jalloh had shouted \u201cAllahu Akbar\u201d \u2014 or \u201cGod is greater\u201d \u2014 before firing at students, the FBI said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBrave ROTC members in that room subdued him, and if not for them, I\u2019m not sure what else he may have done,\u201d Evans, the FBI agent, said Thursday.\n <\/p>\n \n Before being overcome and killed by the students, Jalloh killed ROTC instructor Shah and injured two others, officials said. All three victims were members of the university, police said.\n <\/p>\n \n Shah had been nearing retirement, his friend Carlos Ortiz told WTKR<\/a>. \u201cHe was so close to the finish line. \u2026 This was his last assignment,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cYou\u2019re not supposed to go to war and then come home, where you\u2019re safe, and die like that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Investigators believe Jalloh was inspired by a 2009 shooting rampage at the Fort Hood military base in Texas, during which an Army psychiatrist killed 13 people and injured 32 others, Evans said. The shooter appears to have been ruminating on the event since at least 2016, according to prosecutors at the time<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Jalloh was enlisted as a combat engineer with the Virginia National Guard from 2009 to 2015, an Army official confirmed. Shortly after he left the military, he was arrested for trying to provide support to ISIS.\n <\/p>\n \n Before his arrest in 2016, Jalloh tried to procure weapons to be used in what he believed would be an attack committed in the name of ISIS and also tried to donate money to the group, according to the Department of Justice.\n <\/p>\n \n Unbeknownst to Jalloh, he had been speaking to an FBI source who was monitoring his behavior. When discussing the timeline for a possible attack on US soil, Jalloh \u201cexpressed that it was better to plan an operation for Ramadan,\u201d according to an affidavit from an FBI agent.\n <\/p>\n \n Thursday\u2019s attack took place during Ramadan, a Muslim holy month that is observed as a time of fasting and spiritual renewal.\n <\/p>\n \n Jalloh pleaded guilty in 2017 to attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization and was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2017. He was released from federal custody in December 2024.\n <\/p>\n \n Students and staff at Old Dominion were just days away from taking a week-long school break. After the shooting, the university canceled classes on its main campus on Thursday and Friday.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOur campus and our community have been truly shaken and forever impacted by this senseless act of violence, and we want to extend our thoughts and prayers to the families and the victims and those that were impacted by this act today,\u201d Hemphill, the university president, said during Thursday\u2019s news conference.\n <\/p>\n \n The FBI is still in preliminary stages of its investigation and is asking for the public\u2019s help. Anyone with information about Jalloh or the attack is encouraged to submit a tip<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n ![\"odu.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/odu.jpg\")
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