By Aileen Wingblad
The Oakland Press, Sterling Heights, Mich.
DETROIT — Citing an ongoing investigation now headed by the FBI, officials aren’t yet releasing information about the possible motives or details on the man who reportedly drove a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield early Thursday afternoon, engaged with security and then died.
Late Thursday, The Detroit News reported that U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed that Ayman Ghazali, 41, a restaurant worker in Dearborn Heights, is suspected of driving his truck into the synagogue just after noon Thursday and opening fire, before he was shot and killed by security.
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A native of Lebanon, Ghazali was granted U.S. citizenship more than 10 years ago, according to DHS. He entered the U.S. through Detroit on May 10, 2011 on an immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen, a DHS statement said. He applied for naturalization on Oct. 20, 2015, and was granted citizenship on Feb. 5, 2016.
Speaking at a news conference Thursday evening at the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield, Jennifer Runyan, FBI special-agent-in-charge, described the incident as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community” — and asked for patience as investigators “pursue every lead.”
Tips from the public can be submitted to the FBI tip line at www.FBI.gov/westbloomfieldattack, or by calling 1-800-CALL- FBI.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said what happened was a “hateful, terrible, terrible, terrible thing.” The investigation is in its “super preliminary stages,” he said.
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Bouchard said the response by state, federal and local law enforcement agencies reflect their ongoing training to work together in preparation for active shooter and mass casualty situations. “We take care of each other,” he said.
Bouchard also said the synagogue’s security “did an amazing job” in responding to the incident.
Many questions about the incident remain unanswered. So far, officials have said a man in a truck drove into Temple Israel and continued down a hallway where he was met by synagogue security guards. Shots were fired by the guards, and possibly by the truck driver though that hasn’t been confirmed, officials said. At some point, the truck started on fire. The truck driver was found dead in his vehicle, but officials haven’t said whether he was fatally shot by the security guards, died by suicide or died from injuries sustained in the crash.
No children or staff were injured in the incident, which Bouchard said is “important to note.” But one security guard was hit by the truck and knocked unconscious, and 30 law enforcement officers suffered smoke inhalation from the truck fire inside the building. All were transported to an area hospital and expected to survive.
West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said a 911 call reporting an active shooter at Temple Israel came in at around 12:19 p.m. Officers were on the scene in less than five minutes, he said, and immediately cleared the building. Officials said earlier that approximately 100 people, many of them children, were evacuated.
Young said they are “examining every angle related to this situation.”
The incident resulted in area schools being locked down and local residents advised to shelter in place for hours. The public was asked to avoid the area even after the shelter-in-place advisory was lifted at around 4:30 p.m. as the investigation continued.
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