(AFP) – An unidentified assailant was killed Thursday after ramming his pickup truck into a synagogue on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, causing a blaze and triggering a huge police response. Security guards opened fire on the attacker after he smashed through the doors of the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters.
Bouchard said a motive for the attack had not yet been determined, but it comes amid heightened security across the United States following the launch nearly two weeks ago of the US-Israeli war on Iran. President Donald Trump called the attack “terrible” and said it was “absolutely incredible that things like that happen.” The synagogue attack came on the same day as a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, which FBI Director Kash Patel said was being investigated as “an act of terrorism.”
Patel, in a post on X, said the university attack left one person dead and two others wounded. “The shooter is now deceased thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him,” he said. Bouchard stated that the Michigan assailant rammed the Temple Israel building with his vehicle and then drove down a hallway, where he was engaged by security guards.
“We can’t say what killed him at this point, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire,” the sheriff said. He added that the assailant appeared to be alone in the vehicle and that police dogs were checking the car for explosives. “It’s been complicated because there’s some fire,” he said. “We’re through an abundance of caution, clearing the vehicle for IEDs or any explosives.” The sheriff noted that a security guard was injured by the assailant’s truck and was being treated in hospital.
Smoke could be seen billowing from Temple Israel, one of the largest Reform Judaism congregations in the country, after the attack, and fire engines were on the scene. Law enforcement officers and emergency personnel raced to the area in large numbers soon after the incident.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer condemned what she called the “heartbreaking” attack. “Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace,” she said. “Antisemitism and violence have no place in Michigan.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been briefed about the situation.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he was “shocked by the attack.” “We are in contact with the Jewish community and local authorities,” Saar said on X. “Antisemitism must never be allowed to rear its ugly head.” Bouchard remarked that Oakland County law enforcement had been on high alert since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran nearly two weeks ago. “We’ve been talking for two weeks about the potential, sadly, of this happening,” Bouchard said. “So there was no lack of preparation.”
He added, “All Jewish facilities in the area are going to have a lot of extra presence around it until we figure this out.”
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