Before recent attack, Michigan synagogue had been bolstering its security

Police vehicles sit outside the Temple Israel synagogue Friday, March 13, 2026, in West Bloomfield Township, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] The Michigan synagogue that came under attack this week when an armed man drove his car into the building had for months been strengthening its security apparatus by hiring a seasoned police lieutenant as its security director and holding active shooter training.That beefed up security, which came in response to rising antisemitism and other attacks at places of worship, is being credited with saving lives in an event that ended with only the attacker dying. An armed, private security guard shot back at the attacker after he opened fire through his windshield in a hallway inside the building. When the car barreled in, there were 140 students inside in an early childhood learning center. All were unscathed. The car’s engine caught fire, and the gunman, Ayman Mohammad Ghazali, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen, eventually used his own weapon to fatally shoot himself, according to Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office. “If they had not done their job almost perfectly we would be talking about an immense tragedy here today with children gone,” U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin said of the building’s security.