The FBI is investigating an armed attack on a Detroit synagogue labeled as a targeted act of violence. Local community leaders remind everyone to stay vigilant. <\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The FBI says a situation that unfolded near Detroit Thursday was a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
Authorities said an armed driver rammed a vehicle into Temple Israel, then exchanged gunfire with a security guard. Temple leaders said more than 100 children were inside the synagogue\u2019s early childhood center at the time, but fortunately, none were hurt.<\/p>\n
The driver\u2019s vehicle later caught fire, and the individual was found dead inside. Officials have not released a cause of death. One security guard was hospitalized after being struck by the car.<\/p>\n
Jewish communities across the country, including in Northeast Florida, are on high alert following the attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs this going to impact us here in Northeast Florida?\u201d said Mariam Feist, CEO of the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Northeast Florida. \u201cWhether it\u2019s an incident or whether it\u2019s not: vigilance over fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feist said their organization has a security initiative in place, working closely with law enforcement at the local and national level to protect synagogues and community centers. She encouraged residents to stay aware of their surroundings and report anything suspicious.<\/p>\n
\u201cKnow your whereabouts. Know if anything looks strange, looks out of place, doesn\u2019t feel right. Say something. call 911 or find security,\u201d Feist said.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Shmuli Novack of Chabad of Jacksonville Town Center said the attacks will not shake the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not going to intimidate the Jewish community. This is not going to stop anybody from coming out, maybe a few people. That\u2019s understandable,\u201d Novack said.<\/p>\n
Local leaders are emphasizing resilience and faith as the community prepares to celebrate Passover in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0let\u00a0a\u00a0few\u00a0bad\u00a0apples\u00a0define\u00a0the\u00a0reality.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0great\u00a0time\u00a0to\u00a0be\u00a0alive.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a\u00a0great\u00a0time\u00a0to\u00a0celebrate\u00a0Passover\u00a0if\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0part\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Jewish\u00a0community.\u00a0And\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0seeing\u00a0so\u00a0much\u00a0excitement\u00a0and\u00a0encouragement,\u201d\u00a0Novack\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
Feist\u00a0also\u00a0urged\u00a0people\u00a0to\u00a0check\u00a0in\u00a0with\u00a0Jewish\u00a0friends\u00a0and\u00a0neighbors\u00a0during\u00a0this\u00a0time.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are frightened. People are upset. People are scared. People are angry. And I know from the texts I\u2019m getting from community leaders and colleagues, not in the Jewish community right now, it means the world to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The FBI is leading the investigation into the attack.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The FBI is investigating an armed attack on a Detroit synagogue labeled as a targeted act of violence.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-189718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}