FBI says attack at Michigan synagogue was a ‘targeted act of violence against the Jewish community’
Michigan – New York – Homeland News-From WBALTV
WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. —
The FBI is leading the investigation after a man armed with a rifle rammed a vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues in Michigan on Thursday, driving through a hallway as security opened fire, fatally shooting him, authorities said.
During a media conference on Thursday evening, Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, said the attack is being investigated as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.”
The name and possible motives of the suspect were not disclosed during the media briefing.
Runyan said it was a “deeply disturbing and tragic incident.”
The vehicle caught fire after crashing into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, which is about 25 miles northwest of Detroit. The attacker drove through a set of doors and into the hallway as security opened fire, authorities said.
West Bloomfield Police Chief Dale Young said Temple security officers “engaged the individual and neutralized the threat.”
The suspect was found dead inside his vehicle, Bouchard said.
“What drove this person into action has to be determined by the investigation,” said Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard.
In the minutes after the attack, smoke billowed from the synagogue, which also houses an early childhood center. None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers, or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, the sheriff said.
The Associated Press reports that the synagogue has multiple security officers. One security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said. Thirty law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.
Bouchard credited preparation and training for the swift response to the threat, saying that he had contacted the head of security for the temple just two days before the attack.
Cassi Cohen, director of strategic development at Temple Israel, was standing at the hallway where the crash happened. She said she heard a loud bang, grabbed a few staff members, ran into her office and locked the door.
“When I heard the crash, I knew it was bad,” Cohen said.
She said a classroom was near where the car rammed the synagogue and, in addition to the children, there were also more than 30 staff members in the synagogue.
“Thankfully, we have had many active shooter drills and our staff is prepared for these situations,” she said. “We do go into lockdown.”
Rabbi Arianna Gordon, from Temple Israel, thanked the security team, law enforcement and early childhood teachers for getting the children out safely and reunited with their parents, calling them the “true rock stars of the day.”
Parents raced to retrieve children who were in the synagogue
About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children soon after authorities cleared the building. Other families were reunited at a nearby Jewish Community Center.
Allison Jacobs, whose 18-month-old daughter is enrolled in Temple Israel’s day care, said she got a message from a teacher saying the children were OK even before she knew what happened.
“There are no words. I was in complete and utter shock,” she told the AP. “I was hoping that it was a false report.”
Jacobs, whose family is Jewish, said she tries not to think about all that’s going on in the world.
“You never think that this is actually going to happen to you,” she said. “But I know that it’s — it’s just terrible. This morning I was mourning the loss of the school that got hit in Iran.”
Synagogues increased security since the start of Iran war
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and have been ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.
The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group.
And an assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.
President Donald Trump says he’s been “fully briefed” on the attack.
The president said at a White House event marking Women’s History Month, “I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people” in the Detroit area.
Trump added, “It’s a terrible thing, but it goes on” and said that authorities would be working to get “right down to the bottom of it.”
“It’s absolutely incredible that things like this happen,” Trump said.
