Attacker rams pickup truck into Michigan synagogue, killed by security guards

DETROIT, United States (MNTV) – An unidentified attacker was killed after ramming a pickup truck into Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township outside Detroit, sparking a fire and prompting a large police and FBI response.

Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the assailant smashed through the synagogue’s doors, drove down a hallway and was engaged by security guards who opened fire.

“We can’t say what killed him at this point, but security did engage the suspect with gunfire,” Bouchard said.

The attacker appeared to be alone, and police dogs checked the vehicle for explosives. A security member struck by the truck was hospitalized. Smoke was seen billowing from the building, which houses one of the largest Reform Judaism congregations in the country.

FBI Director Kash Patel described the incident as an “apparent vehicle ramming and active shooter situation.”

No motive had been determined, Bouchard said, though the attack came amid heightened security across the United States following the launch of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran nearly two weeks earlier. The Jewish Federation of Detroit advised all Jewish organizations in the area to “go into lockout protocol — nobody in or out of your building.”

The synagogue attack occurred on the same day as a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, which Patel also said was being investigated as “an act of terrorism.”

Patel said that attack left one person dead and two wounded, and that “the shooter is now deceased thanks to a group of brave students who stepped in and subdued him.”