Temple Israel Suspected Attacker Identified by Department of Homeland Security

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, was identified as the deceased suspect in the Temple Israel attack on March 12

NEED TO KNOW

• Ayman Mohamad Ghazali was identified as the deceased suspect who drove a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., the Department of Homeland Security said
• The suspect drove a truck with explosives into Temple Israel and exchanged gunfire with security guards before he was killed
• None of the 140 students or staff members were injured, but a security guard who was hit by the vehicle was hospitalized and is expected to recover

The suspect who drove a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., on Thursday, March 12, has been identified as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials identified Ghazali, 41, hours after the attack at one of the largest synagogues in the U.S. 

The DHS said Ghazali was a resident of Dearborn Heights, Mich., and was born in Lebanon in 1985. He first filed for a U.S. visa in December 2009, and it was approved in April 2010. Then, in May 2011, he came to the U.S. legally with sponsorship from his American spouse. He applied for citizenship in October 2015 and became a U.S. citizen in February 2016, according to CNN.

The suspect drove the truck with mortar-type explosives inside, which caught fire once the car went into the building. Then, the suspect exchanged gunfire with security guards and was killed, local sheriff in Oakland County, Michael Bouchard, said in a press conference. Authorities found Ghazali deceased inside the vehicle, armed with a rifle.

“We can't say what killed him at this point, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard said a security guard was hit by the car and was taken to the hospital, and is expected to recover. He noted that none of the 140 students or staff at the school were injured. Thirty law enforcement officers were transported to a local hospital for smoke inhalation.

The FBI said the attack was a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community," per CBS News. 

The Department of Homeland Security did not share a motive in its statement. A neighbor told the Detroit Free Press that the suspect’s brother was recently killed in Lebanon during an Israeli strike. Sources within the local Lebanese American community told CBS News that multiple members of Ghazali’s family were killed after an airstrike in Lebanon amid the U.S.-Israel-Iran war.

Israel has launched several airstrikes in neighboring Lebanon during the U.S.-Israel-Iran War, targeting the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah, reports the BBC. Hezbollah launched rockets and drones into Israel after Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, was assassinated.

Bouchard confirmed that after the start of the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, law enforcement has been on high alert. “We've been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening,” Bouchard said. “So there was no lack of preparation.”

Two months prior, Temple Israel’s clergy and staff participated in an Active Shooter Attack Prevention and Preparedness (ASAPP) training led by the FBI's Detroit office, according to the agency’s X account.

Sheriff Bouchard praised Temple Israel security and the first responders' quick action in the immediate aftermath of the attack. “Everything that was supposed to happen, happened. Security did their job, and then the responders did theirs," he said during the press conference.

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PEOPLE reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for additional information.

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