Temple Israel attack: Gunman fatally shot himself in head during gunfight with security

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (FOX 2) – Law enforcement officials revealed more details of a gunman’s attack on Temple Israel of West Bloomfield, the largest Reform synagogue in North America Thursday.

The backstory:

Ayman Mohammad Ghazali fatally shot himself after crashing his Ford F-150 through the front doors in his vehicle and engaging security in a gunfight, the FBI said Friday.

Ghazali, 41, was armed and had a large quantity of commercial-grade fireworks and several jugs of flammable liquid believed to be gasoline at the time of the attack.

Daycare classes with children 5 years old and younger were being held at the time. No students or staff of the synagogue were injured with the exception of a security guard who was hit by the truck and knocked unconscious. 

“I would like to commend the teachers and the staff who successfully evacuated the children during this attack,” Runyan said. 

The Dearborn Heights man sat in the parking lot from 10 a.m. to noon, before ramming his truck into the southeast end of the synagogue at 12:19 p.m. striking a security guard in the process, said Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan, FBI.

Runyan said that Ghazali’s truck was jammed into the hallway and he could not get out. The man then started shooting through the windshield. He then traded shots through the back window with a security guard. 

“At approximately 12:22 p.m., a second security officer engaged Ghazali in a gunfight from the front of the vehicle, and soon thereafter, in Ghazali’s vehicle the engine compartment catches on fire,” Runyan said. “At some point during the gunfight, Ghazali suffers a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

“In the bed of the truck, we found large quantities of commercial grade fireworks and several jugs of flammable liquid we believe to be gasoline, some of which has been consumed in the fire.”

Related: Michigan synagogue attack being investigated by FBI as targeted act of violence against Jewish community

The motivation behind the attack is still under investigation but the Dearborn Heights mayor released a statement last night that Ghazali had lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack at their home in Lebanon.

Officials said Ghazali was born in Lebanon in 1985 and entered the US on May 10, 2011 on an IR1 immigrant visa as the spouse of a U.S. citizen.

FOX News reports that according to DHS, Ghazali applied for naturalization on Oct. 20, 2015 and became a U.S. citizen on Feb. 5, 2016.

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Ghazali had no previous criminal history and no registered weapons. 

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said that 63 law enforcement officers were sent to the hospital with smoke inhalation.

 “We had 605 units responding from 42 different agencies,” Bouchard said. “It operated seamlessly and everyone came from where they could.”

One responding detective was in a car crash while responding with lights and siren on, but will be okay.

“When you see the worst in humanity, you see the best,” he said. “And we’ve seen the best of humanity respond to this.”

Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said earlier today that the act of one resident does not define a community. 

“This is not who we are,” he said. “There is never an excuse for violence – especially violence directed at a sacred space. Our Jewish brothers and sisters deserve to worship without fear. Children in any school, whether West Bloomfield or in Dearborn Heights, or anywhere around the world, deserve to attend school without fear of any type of attack.”