Newly obtained images and video allegedly show the man accused in Thursday’s synagogue attack in Michigan purchasing more than $2,000 worth of fireworks two days before ramming a truck into Temple Israel outside Detroit.
Video obtained by Fox News allegedly shows 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali of Dearborn Heights making two purchases of fireworks totaling $2,250.96 at the Phantom Fireworks showroom in Livonia, Michigan, on March 10.
According to Phantom Fireworks, Ghazali made one purchase for $1,369.02 at 2 p.m. and another for $881.94 at 2:17 p.m. He purchased 20 items, including a variety of firecrackers, aerial repeaters and a fountain product.
Alan Zoldan, executive vice president of Phantom Fireworks, told Fox News there “was nothing really too suspicious” about the purchase, noting that Ghazali “seemed like he was in a good mood.”
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Zoldan said the items Ghazali was buying were based on how they sounded and that he was looking at fireworks “that were either shaped like they were possibly very strong or had names like ‘Military Demolitions’ and ‘Da Bomb.’”
“He obviously thought that they were going to be stronger and perhaps more devastating than they were,” Zoldan said.
Surveillance footage allegedly shows Ghazali shopping in the store’s retail showroom, where he spent about 45 minutes. After making the first purchase, he loaded the fireworks into the bed of his pickup truck and then returned inside to make an additional purchase.
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Zoldan added there was no noticeable tension or anything that would raise suspicion for employees.
Ghazali rammed a vehicle into Temple Israel, a large Reform Jewish synagogue in West Bloomfield, shortly before 12:30 p.m. local time. He then exited the vehicle with a rifle and exchanged gunfire with armed security.
FBI officials confirmed Friday that Ghazali suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after engaging in gunfire with security.
All preschool children and staff were safely evacuated from the synagogue.
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Jennifer Runyan, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, said during a news conference Friday that Ghazali had been “forensically confirmed” to be the assailant.
She said Ghazali had no previous criminal history or registered weapons and had never been the subject of an FBI investigation.
Officials confirmed that Ghazali spent more than two hours in the parking lot of Temple Israel before driving his truck into the synagogue. The FBI is not currently treating this as a terror-related incident, but is working to confirm his motive, for now referring to the incident as “a targeted act of violence.”
After engaging security officers in a gunfight, Ghazali’s vehicle engine compartment caught fire, and he became trapped in the synagogue hallway, according to investigators.
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“At some point during the gunfight, Ghazali suffers a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head,” Runyan said.
She said agents found large quantities of commercial-grade fireworks and several jugs of flammable liquid, believed to be gasoline, in the bed of the truck. Some of the items were consumed in the fire, she added.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said during a news conference Friday that Ghazali, a Lebanese-born American citizen, had recently lost family members in Lebanon during the country’s conflict with Israel.
“We do know that the individual had recently suffered devastating and personal losses overseas due to an Israeli airstrike on his family’s home in Lebanon, leaving two children dead,” he said.
“That grief is real and it’s heartbreaking,” he continued. “But let me be clear: that is not an excuse. These actions do not reflect our values as a city. This is not who we are. There is never an excuse for violence, especially violence directed at a sacred space.”
The incident remains under investigation.
