Suspect dead after ramming vehicle into synagogue in Michigan. 4 hours ago. Madeline Halpert. A driver who rammed his vehicle into a large synagogue in Michigan on Thursday afternoon is dead, officials say.. Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard told reporters the suspect drove his vehicle through the doors of Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield and then down a hallway before his vehicle caught fire.. Security guards at the synagogue had opened fire as he approached and then confronted him inside. One who was hit by the vehicle is being treated at hospital and is expected to recover, authorities said.. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said the incident is being investigated as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community”.. The Department of Homeland Security has identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalised US citizen who was born in Lebanon and came to the US in 2011.. Thirty police officers were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation as the building was “engulfed” in flames, the Oakland County sheriff said. He added that the investigation would uncover what had ignited the fire.. Temple Israel – one of the largest reform Jewish synagogues in the US – also has a preschool where dozens of children had to be evacuated during the incident.. FBI special agent Jennifer Runyan said the incident was “deeply, disturbing and tragic”.. Bouchard called the crime a “hateful, terrible thing”, but did not elaborate on a specific motive.. “We know there’s evil in the world,” Bouchard said at an evening press conference. “When they show up, that’s where training and preparation come in.”. At an earlier briefing, Bouchard said, “Everything that was supposed to happen, happened,” adding, “Security did their job, and then the responders did theirs.”. Getty Images. Police did not say how the suspect died. Bouchard said it was difficult to determine the suspect’s cause of death because the vehicle caught fire.. “We can’t say what killed him at this point,” he said. “But security did engage the suspect with gunfire.”. Officers were working to clear the vehicle for explosives “out of an abundance of caution”, he added.. State and local law enforcement, as well as the FBI, all responded to the emergency.. Speaking at a White House event on Thursday, Trump said he wanted to “send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in Detroit”.. “It’s a terrible thing,” he said.. Lisa Stern, a member of Temple Israel for over 20 years, drove to the congregation after she heard news that there had been an attack, concerned about her friends inside, who included two rabbis and a social worker.. But she said she chose not to text them to see if they were safe, as a pinging sound might give their locations away. Initially the ramming was reported as an “active shooter incident”.. Waiting across the street, Stern said she saw anxious parents and grandparents arriving to make sure their children were safe
