03/13/2026
Security Officer Shoots-Kills Synagogue Attacker
By Rick McCann
March 12, 2026
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich.
An armed man rammed a vehicle into a Michigan synagogue and was fatally shot by private security according to police.
Police said that the man armed with a rifle rammed his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest reform synagogues in a Detroit suburb and was then fatally shot by security.
The vehicle caught fire after crashing into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The attacker drove through a set of doors and into a hallway where something in the vehicle ignited and began burning the vehicle and building a sheriff said.
“He was traveling with purpose down the hall, from my look at the video,” Oakland County Sheriff Sheriff Mike Bouchard said.
Investigators were still working to identify the man’s identity and a possible motive for the attack, said the person who could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. The person cautioned that the investigation was still in the early stages.
Smoke could be seen billowing from the synagogue, which houses an early childhood center.
“No kids or no staff were injured whatsoever,” Oakland County Sheriff Sheriff Mike Bouchard thanks to the security staff however one security officer was hit by the vehicle and knocked unconscious but did not suffer life-threatening injuries.
“At least one individual came to the temple. Security saw him, engaged him in gunfire,” Bouchard said during an earlier news conference.
Synagogues around the world have been on edge and ramping up security since the U.S. and Israel launched a war with Iran with missile strikes on Feb. 28.
The FBI has warned that Iranian operatives may be planning drone attacks on targets in California. Two men brought explosives to a far-right protest outside the New York mayoral mansion on Saturday. Investigators allege they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group. An assailant drove a car into people outside an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester, England, on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. He stabbed two people to death before officers shot and killed him.
On Thursday, the Oakland County Sheriff’s office cleared the building and about a dozen parents sprinted to get their children from an early childhood learning center inside. West Bloomfield School District went on lockdown.
Oakland County is Michigan’s second-largest county with roughly 1.3 million people. The majority of Detroit-area Jewish residents live there.
Temple Israel has 12,000 members. according to its website. It offers educational programs for families and adults.
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