{"id":523420,"date":"2026-03-14T16:07:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T16:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/523420\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T16:07:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T16:07:16","slug":"fbi-attacker-shot-himself-after-getting-stuck-in-car-he-rammed-into-michigan-synagogue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/523420\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI: Attacker shot himself after getting stuck in car he rammed into Michigan synagogue"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Lebanese-born man who learned a week earlier that four of his family members \u2014 including two brothers who were reportedly Hezbollah operatives<\/a> \u2014 were killed in an Israeli airstrike in his native country, waited in his car outside a synagogue for two hours before ramming into the building where dozens of children were inside.<\/p>\n

Authorities said Friday that Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, 41, crashed his car into Temple Israel outside Detroit on Thursday afternoon, then started firing his gun through the windshield, exchanging fire with an armed security guard.<\/p>\n

Following the attack on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said security guards in the building killed the gunman.<\/p>\n

Later, authorities said guards \u201cneutralized\u201d him.<\/p>\n

But Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI\u2019s Detroit field office, said during a news conference Friday that ultimately Ghazali fatally shot himself after he got stuck in his vehicle and the engine caught fire.<\/p>\n

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Officials later found large quantities of commercial-grade fireworks and several jugs of a liquid believed to be gasoline.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tAyman Ghazali, the suspect in a March 12, 2026, attack on a Michigan synagogue, seen in security camera footage allegedly buying fireworks two days before the attack. (CBS News screenshot)<\/p>\n

The FBI, which is leading the investigation, has described the attack on one of the nation\u2019s largest Reform synagogues, located in suburban West Bloomfield Township north of Detroit, as an act of violence targeting the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Runyan said that law enforcement didn\u2019t have enough evidence to call the attack an act of terror at this time, but said that investigations were ongoing.<\/p>\n

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, the 41-year-old suspect in the Michigan synagogue attack on Thursday, allegedly had family ties to Hezbollah. Sources say his brother\u2019s in Lebanon were members of a Hezbollah rocket unit. https:\/\/t.co\/HrVqmYe7Jo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ldsm5is5AK<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil (@CBSEveningNews) March 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

None of the 140 children, teachers and staff inside the synagogue were injured, authorities said.\n<\/p>\n

The agency has not provided an exact motive for the attack. \u201cWe\u2019re just 30 hours into this, and we\u2019re letting the facts and evidence lead,\u201d Runyan said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tJennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI\u2019s Detroit field office, gives an update during a news conference about the Temple Israel synagogue case, March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya)<\/p>\n

Temple Israel had taken steps to prepare for an attack. Last summer, the synagogue announced it was hiring a former local police lieutenant as its full-time head of security to oversee its in-house, armed security guards. Earlier this year, its clergy and staff underwent active shooter prevention and preparedness training, according to a post on Temple Israel\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and US Senator Elissa Slotkin during a news conference Friday praised Temple Israel\u2019s private security for swiftly stopping the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they had not all done their jobs almost perfectly, we would be talking about an immense tragedy here with children gone,\u201d Slotkin said.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tThe exterior the home of Ayman Mohamad Ghazali is shown on March 13, 2026, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya)<\/p>\n

From south Lebanon to Dearborn Heights<\/p>\n

Ghazali lived in a single-story brick home in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn Heights about 38 miles (61 kilometers) south of the synagogue. On Friday, the front window was boarded, the front door was padlocked and an Amazon package addressed to Ghazali sat on the porch.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the four years I\u2019ve lived here, we never really got past pleasantries,\u201d said Chadi Zreik, who lives two houses down. \u201cWe all got acquainted with him in the last 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ghazali came to the US in 2011 on an immediate relative visa as the spouse of a US citizen and was granted US citizenship in 2016, according to the Department of Homeland Security.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tLaw enforcement escort families with children away from the Temple Israel synagogue on March 12, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya)<\/p>\n

An Israeli airstrike on March 5 killed four people in the town of Mashgharah, Lebanese officials reported. Israel has been carrying out extensive airstrikes targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Israel Defense Forces has pushed further into the south of the country on the ground, after the Iran-backed terror group started firing hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel on March 2, in response to US-Israeli attacks on the Iranian regime.<\/p>\n

A local official in Mashgharah told the AP on Friday that the airstrike killed Ghazali\u2019s two brothers, a niece and a nephew at their home just after sunset as they were having their fast-breaking meal during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n

The official, who requested anonymity because he could not publicly discuss details of the airstrike, told the AP that Kassim and Ibrahim Ghazali were killed, along with Ibrahim Ghazali\u2019s children, Ali and Fatima. Their mother was seriously wounded and remains in the hospital, the official said.<\/p>\n

An unnamed official told NBC News Ghazali\u2019s brothers were known to be members of Hezbollah, while a local journalist in Lebanon told CBS News that the pair were operatives in a Hezbollah rocket unit in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tAyman Mohammad Ghazali (Social media, used in accordance with clause 27a of the copyright law)<\/p>\n

Sources told CNN that Ghazali had been flagged in US government databases for connections to members of Hezbollah, but was not thought to be a member of the terror group.<\/p>\n

However, a source familiar with the matter told NBC that US investigators were looking into possible ties between Ghazali and members of Hezbollah, and said that the synagogue attacker had been questioned on the matter on a number of occasions upon his return from overseas trips.<\/p>\n

A Michigan mosque held a service for his relatives<\/p>\n

Dearborn Heights and its larger neighbor, Dearborn, have some of the largest populations of Arab Americans in the US. Signs of the culture are everywhere, from restaurants to mosques.<\/p>\n

Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun spoke to reporters Friday about Ghazali losing family members overseas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat grief is real and it\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d Baydoun said, \u201cBut there is never an excuse for violence, especially violence directed at a sacred space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osama Siblani, publisher of The Arab American News in Dearborn, claimed it\u2019s common to hold a memorial service in the US for someone who died overseas. \u201cSharing feelings always gives you comfort, whether in bad times or good times. You don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re alone,\u201d said Siblani, who has hailed Hezbollah and its Palestinian ally Hamas as \u201cfreedom fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tThe exterior of Hamido restaurant is shown on March 13, 2026, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. (AP Photo\/Paul Sancya)<\/p>\n

A flier last weekend promoted a service for Ghazali\u2019s relatives at the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights. The mosque\u2019s leader, Imam Hassan Qazwini, said Friday he had seen Ghazi only once. He strongly condemned the synagogue attack, saying houses of worship should be spared from political violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIslam forbids holding innocent people accountable for acts done by others,\u201d Qazwini said in a text message to an AP reporter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unjustified Israeli attack on civilians in Iran and Lebanon gives no blank check to anyone attacking synagogues, civilians and peaceful communities,\u201d added Qazwini, who has previously praised<\/a> former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and denounced Israel as \u201cthis tyrannical enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Synagogues and other houses of worship on edge<\/p>\n

Synagogues around the world have been ramping up security since the US and Israel launched missile strikes against Iran on February 28, with numerous Jewish houses of worship around the world targeted<\/a> so far this month.<\/p>\n

At Temple Israel, a security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said. And 63 law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.<\/p>\n

More than 600 law enforcement officers responded to the 911 calls on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Oakland County is Michigan\u2019s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there. Temple Israel has 12,000 members, according to its website.<\/p>\n

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