TERROR IN MICHIGAN: Dearborn Resident Ayman Mohammed Ghazaleh Identified As Terrorist Who Rammed Explosive Filled Truck Into Jewish Preschool With 140 Children Inside

Authorities have identified the terrorist behind Thursday’s shocking attack at a Michigan synagogue preschool as Lebanese born Ayman Mohammed Ghazaleh, also known as Ayman Ali Alghazli, a naturalized United States citizen living in Dearborn, Michigan.

Investigators say Ghazaleh carried out a targeted attack on the Jewish community when he drove a truck packed with explosives into the preschool building at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield shortly before 1 p.m.

More than 140 Jewish children were inside the building at the time.

Law enforcement source and security expert, Aaron Tobin, who runs Magen Detroit, told JBN that Ghazaleh smashed through the doors of the synagogue complex and drove directly into the structure that houses the preschool. The truck was packed with explosives including mortar shells and the attacker also had an semi-automatic rifle inside the vehicle.

Tobin told JBN that the terrorist was unable to immediately continue the attack after crashing the vehicle into the building.

According to Tobin, the impact damaged the vehicle so badly that the terrorist was unable to open the truck door and could not reach the explosives and rifle inside the truck.

That moment proved critical.

Heroic security guards immediately opened fire and stopped the terrorist before he could detonate the explosives or continue his rampage. Ghazaleh died at the scene.

Tobin told JBN that as the terrorist rammed the vehicle into the synagogue, he ran over the head security guard stationed at the entrance.

Despite being badly injured and struck by the vehicle, the guard had the presence of mind to draw his weapon and fire at the terrorist and eliminate him before losing consciousness from his injuries.

“He was heroic,” Tobin told JBN. “Even after being run over he still had the wherewithal to stop the terrorist before he lost consciousness.”

The guard suffered a broken tibia when he was run over during the attack. He is currently in the hospital undergoing surgery.

Authorities say the explosive filled truck ignited a fire as the attack unfolded. Aerial footage from the scene showed smoke rising from the synagogue building as police and emergency crews flooded the area.

Due to the severe burns sustained by the suspect, investigators initially struggled to identify the body and are working to confirm identification through dental records. The vehicle involved in the attack was registered to Ghazaleh at an address in Dearborn, Michigan.

Sources familiar with the investigation say Ghazaleh’s background includes disturbing ideological ties. His two brothers reportedly participated in the Imam Al Mahdi Scouts, an organization in Lebanon widely described as a militant youth program used to indoctrinate children into the ranks of Hezbollah.

Sources also tell JBN that the terrorist, 41, recently lost members of his family in Lebanon who were reportedly killed in an air strike during the war involving Iran earlier this week and had posted their pictures at 12:40am this morning. Investigators are examining whether that development may have played a role in motivating the attack.

According to sources, Ghazaleh originally entered the United States on an immigrant visa during the Obama administration and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard praised the synagogue’s security team and staff for their rapid response.

He called the guards who confronted the terrorist “truly heroes,” adding that teachers inside the preschool followed their safety training and kept the children calm while evacuating the building.

Sheriff Michael Bouchard also revealed that the response was strengthened by recent security preparation. He told reporters that his office, the FBI Detroit field office, and the synagogue’s security team conducted active shooter prevention and preparedness training for the staff and clergy at Temple Israel less than two months ago.

“All of the training that we do is unfortunately necessary, but as you can see today it all paid off,” Bouchard said.

All students and staff were safely evacuated from the synagogue complex.

At least thirty emergency responders were treated for smoke inhalation as firefighters and police worked to secure the scene.

Authorities said that nearly two hundred police and sheriff’s department vehicles responded to the area while several nearby schools were placed on immediate lockdown as a precaution.

Federal investigators from the FBI are now leading the probe and have classified the incident as a targeted attack on the Jewish community.

Temple Israel is located in West Bloomfield, a Detroit suburb in Oakland County that is home to one of the largest Jewish populations outside New York.

The area sits roughly twenty miles north of Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest Arab and Muslim population in the United States.

The White House confirmed that President Donald Trump was fully briefed on the attack.

Speaking from the East Room, the President sent his support to the shaken community.

“Before we begin, I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in the Detroit area following the attack on the Jewish synagogue early today,” Trump said. “I have been fully briefed and it is a terrible thing. It is a terrible thing but we will get to the bottom of it.”

Investigators say the full motive remains under investigation, but the attempted mass casualty attack is the latest in a string of threats and violent incidents targeting Jewish communities in the United States.