WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (VINnews) — The man who tried to carry out a deadly attack at a Jewish preschool in suburban Detroit had relatives believed to be members of the terrorist group Hezbollah, according to law enforcement sources.

Authorities identified the suspect as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Lebanon. Officials said Ghazali rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into Temple Israel Synagogue on Thursday, where a preschool operates.

Security guards opened fire, stopping the attack before it could escalate. Ghazali was killed when the vehicle later burst into flames. No children or staff were injured.

Initial reports circulating in some media outlets suggested Ghazali may have been motivated by family members killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. However, law enforcement sources told the New York Post that two of those relatives were believed to be members of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah.

A local official in the Lebanese town of Mashgharah told The Associated Press that Ghazali’s brothers and two other relatives were killed in airstrikes in their home shortly after sunset during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Law enforcement sources said Ghazali had entered the United States in 2011 and became a citizen about five years later. He was questioned by authorities in Atlanta in 2019 after returning from a trip overseas and told officials he had traveled for a hair transplant.

Officials also said contacts linked to suspected Hezbollah members were found on his phone, prompting a follow-up review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the time. The outcome of that review remains unclear.

Investigators continue to examine Ghazali’s background and possible motives in what authorities described as a thwarted terror attack targeting a Jewish institution.