An attacker armed with a rifle rammed his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest reform synagogues Thursday, driving through a hallway as security opened fire, fatally shooting him, authorities said.
Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, said at a news conference on Thursday called the incident “deeply disturbing and tragic” and said the FBI was leading the investigation.
The agency considered the crime a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,” she said.
The vehicle caught fire after crashing into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, just outside Detroit, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke to the AP.
None of the synagogue’s staff, teachers or the 140 children at its early childhood center were injured, Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.
The attacker drove through a set of doors and into the hallway where something in the vehicle ignited, Bouchard said. “He was traveling with purpose down the hall, from my look at the video,” Bouchard said.
