Soot-covered hallways, shattered glass, children’s lunch bowls and trash scattered across floors — including in areas used as classrooms: This is what destruction looks like inside the Temple Israel synagogue complex in West Bloomfield, Michigan, following an attempted attack by a Lebanese-born terrorist last week. The attacker was killed and one security guard was lightly wounded. None of the staff or children on site were harmed.
The newly released images provide the clearest documentation to date of the aftermath of the incident, which authorities described as “a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community.”
Photos published by U.S. media outlets, including Fox News, show long interior corridors covered in soot, with exposed piping and ventilation ducts hanging overhead and debris strewn across the ground. The walls appear charred and darkened, with visible structural damage.
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Sooty hallways after attack on Michigan synagogue
(Photo: Emily Elconin, Temple Israel)
The attacker, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old American citizen born in Lebanon, rammed his vehicle into the synagogue entrance last Thursday while about 140 children were inside. He then opened fire through the vehicle’s window in a hallway he had breached, and a security guard returned fire.
Jennifer Runyan,, a senior FBI agent in Detroit, said the attacker shot himself to death as his vehicle caught fire. The blaze spread to the building, and smoke was seen rising shortly after the attack. The attacker’s brother, who lives in Michigan, was a Hezbollah commander who was killed in a strike in Lebanon.
Days after the incident, it was reported that the synagogue had significantly increased security in recent months amid rising threats and antisemitism in the United States. Among other measures, Temple Israel hired former police officer Danny Phillips last June to lead its armed security team, describing the move as a proactive step “in response to the changing reality facing Jewish communities.” Phillips served in law enforcement for nearly three decades, including more than 20 years as an advanced firearms instructor, according to the website of a college where he teaches a course on responding to armed attacks.
In January, the synagogue’s staff and rabbis took part in training on preventing and responding to armed attacks, conducted by an FBI representative, according to the synagogue’s official social media accounts.
Temple Israel describes itself on its website as the largest Reform synagogue in the United States, with about 12,000 members. It operates an early childhood education center and offers educational and enrichment programs for families and adults.