Michigan Synagogue Attacker Was Inspired By Hezbollah, FBI Says

DETROIT (AP) — A man who crashed his pickup truck into a Detroit-area synagogue earlier in March was carrying out an attack inspired by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah, the FBI said Monday.

Ayman Ghazali made a video before the attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, saying he wanted to “kill as many of them as I possibly can,” said Jennifer Runyan, head of the FBI in Detroit.

Ghazali, 41, of Dearborn Heights sat in the parking lot for a few hours on March 12 before smashing his pickup through closed doors and into the hallway of an early childhood education area, striking a security guard.

He then exchanged gunfire with another guard before fatally shooting himself, the FBI said at the time. The Ford F150, stocked with commercial-grade fireworks and jugs of gasoline, caught fire during the confrontation.

First responders quickly cleared the building, and no one among the 150 children and staff was injured, officials said.