Truck attack on Michigan synagogue, leaves assailant dead, one wounded

Attacker lost family members in a recent Israeli strike, including his children

A 41-year-old man was killed Thursday after ramming his pickup truck into a synagogue on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, causing a blaze and triggering a huge police response. US media reported that the assailant had recently lost family members in an Israeli strike in Lebanon, as part of the ongoing Middle East war.

Active Shooting:
03/12 at 12:30 p m
Location:
5725 Walnut Lake Road (Temple Isreal)
Synopsis:
The Michigan State Police is aware of an active shooting incident that is ongoing in West Bloomfield.

We are asking for community members to stay away from the area to allow for police… pic.twitter.com/p3FIbU9n4K

— MSP Second District (@mspmetrodet) March 12, 2026

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security identified the assailant as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon, came to Detroit in 2011 on a visa granted to spouses of US citizens, and became a US citizen himself in 2016. Security guards opened fire on Ghazali after he smashed a truck through the doors of the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters.

HUGE police response to Temple Israel synagogue 'ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION'

Local media report 'vehicle CRASHED into building before shots fired' https://t.co/6YM95B2Zev pic.twitter.com/zPGjX3yXcD

— RT (@RT_com) March 12, 2026

At a news conference Thursday evening, Bouchard said no synagogue staff or children were hurt in the attack, but 30 law enforcement officers were "taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation" after the evacuation efforts. Earlier, he mentioned that one security guard was injured by the assailant's truck. The FBI will investigate the incident "as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community," Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the federal agency's Detroit field office, said in a statement.

Law enforcement has not yet publicly detailed a motive. US President Donald Trump called the attack "terrible."

A neighbour told the Detroit Free Press newspaper that Ghazali "recently lost family in an Israeli strike in Lebanon." A source in Michigan's Lebanese American community also told CBS News that the strike occurred "roughly 10 days prior" and "killed several of his family members, leaving him devastated."

Here’s a news report from the time on the killing of his four family members https://t.co/fNsXQCh50r

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 12, 2026

Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim shared images of Ghazaleh's children, who had posted photos overnight of their murdered family.

NEWS: The man who rammed his explosives-laden truck into a Michigan synagogue today was named Ayman Ghazaleh, according to a source familiar with the situation. Ghazaleh posted photos overnight of his family members, including young children, who were killed in a recent Israeli… pic.twitter.com/KEBeJPAZsD

— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 12, 2026

The attack comes amid heightened security across the United States following the launch nearly two weeks ago of the US-Israeli war on Iran, a conflict that has since broadened to the Middle East. In Lebanon, authorities on Thursday reported that 687 people had been killed by Israel's attacks, while Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz stated that those strikes were "expanding."

pic.twitter.com/kMRBH1diKe

— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) March 12, 2026

The synagogue attack also came on the same day as a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, which FBI Director Kash Patel said was being investigated as "an act of terrorism." Patel, in a post on X, stated that the university attack left one person dead and two others wounded. "The shooter is now deceased thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him," he said. The suspect was later identified as Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, a former member of the National Guard who pleaded guilty in 2016 to attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State.

Bouchard confirmed that the Michigan assailant rammed the Temple Israel building with his vehicle and then drove down a hallway, where he was engaged by security guards. "We can't say what killed him at this point, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire," the sheriff said. He added that the assailant appeared to be alone in the vehicle and that police dogs were checking the car for explosives. "It's been complicated because there's some fire," he explained. "We're through an abundance of caution, clearing the vehicle for IEDs or any explosives." Smoke could be seen billowing from Temple Israel, one of the largest Reform Judaism congregations in the country, after the attack.

Temple Israel has previously hosted IDF soldiers, as their official account has shown.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned what she called a "heartbreaking" attack. "Michigan's Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace," she said. "Antisemitism and violence have no place in Michigan."

Bouchard added that Oakland County law enforcement would increase vigilance and had already been on high alert since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran nearly two weeks ago. "We've been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening," Bouchard stated. "So there was no lack of preparation."