The attack earlier this month on a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, was “a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism purposely targeting the Jewish community and the largest Jewish temple in Michigan,” the FBI said in a news conference Monday.
The assailant, Ayman Ghazali, a naturalized US citizen from Lebanon, rammed a pickup truck into the synagogue on March 12, as more than 100 children were attending school inside.
After waiting in the synagogue’s parking lot for more than two hours, authorities said, Ghazali drove the truck far into the building – hitting a security officer – before the vehicle became wedged in a hallway.
Security officers for the synagogue began exchanging gunfire with Ghazali, who eventually shot and killed himself inside the truck. During the chaos, the truck’s engine compartment caught fire and caused extensive damage to the building. The truck was filled with over $2,000 of commercial-grade fireworks and about 35 gallons of gasoline, which he used to “enhance” the explosion, said Jennifer Runyan, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Detroit.
No one else was killed. One of the temple’s lead security officers was injured after being hit by the vehicle.
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