The man suspected of crashing an explosive-filled truck into a Michigan synagogue is a Lebanese migrant whose family died in Israeli air strikes.Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, had family who were recently killed in an Israeli strike, Mo Baydoun, the Mayor of Dearborn Heights, confirmed on Friday.“We do know that the individual had recently suffered devastating and personal losses overseas due to an Israeli air strike on his family’s home in Lebanon, leaving two children dead,” he said.“That grief is real and it’s heartbreaking, 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.”Ghazali was shot dead by security officers after driving through a hallway at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, near Detroit.Neighbours told The Telegraph Ghazali seemed normal and unremarkable.One neighbour described seeing him playing on the lawn with his children, another said that he was an apparently friendly man.“He was a sweet guy,” his next door neighbour told the Telegraph, “he played with his kids outside.”According to neighbours, Ghazali worked at the front of a local Lebanese restaurant, Hamido, where he would serve food to those nearby.Mohammed Mardini, an Imam at the American Muslim centre who knew Ghazali, said: “I interacted with him as the customer to this restaurant that he worked on,” he told the Telegraph. “We used to see him when we would go and order some food.”“He was a cashier,” he said. “He was just selling, receiving the money, giving the orders.”Smoke from a building in Beirut, Lebanon, after an Israeli strike on March 12 - Adri Salido/Getty ImagesJaverya Zreik, a 28 year old mother of two who lived next door to Ghazali, said she thought he was “just a random, regular guy”.Ms Zreik said she saw him playing with his daughters in his front garden: “I’d see him mostly when the kids were out.”She added: “He would just be smiling or waving as he passed by.”Ms Zreik said she was shocked when she heard the news: “I think it goes to show you don’t really know anybody.”Police responded to reports of an active gunman at 12.19pm on Thursday, in what the FBI described as a “targeted act of violence against the Jewish community”.No one else was seriously injured in the attack. One security guard who was taken to hospital is expected to recover.Ghazali was born in Lebanon. In 2011, he entered the US using an immigrant visa as the spouse of a US citizen, the US Department of Homeland Security said.He became an American citizen in February 2016 and lived in the Michigan city of Dearborn Heights.Mo Baydoun, the city’s mayor, said: “Earlier this month, [Ghazali] lost several members of his own family, including his niece and nephew, in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon,” he said.Lebanon has been the target of Israeli air strikes since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East two weeks ago.The Israel Defense Forces is targeting strongholds of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terror group.
Lebanese authorities have said at least 634 people have been killed and more than 1,500 injured in Israeli attacks so far.Wayne County, which includes Dearborn Heights, has the largest concentration of Lebanese Americans in the US.Authorities found a large amount of explosives in the back of Ghazali’s vehicle, including mortar shells.Footage from the scene showed a large police and emergency service response, with smoke billowing from the building in the background. Children were seen being escorted from the building.Families being escorted away from the Temple Israel synagogue after the attack - Paul Sancya/APMike Bouchard, the Oakland County sheriff, said there were “no victims” other than one of the security officers, who was hit by the car and was taken to the hospital for treatment.“That individual should be OK,” he added.Temple Israel’s security had exchanged fire with Ghazali, who was reportedly armed with a rifle, Mr Bouchard said.The shooter “breached the building, drove down the hall, and he was engaged by security”, he added.Police officers in force after the attack at the Temple Israel synagogue - Corey Williams/APAn order for people to shelter in place remained within a one-mile radius as police tried to establish whether there may have been a second suspect who could have fled the scene on foot.Authorities across the country increased security at Jewish places of worship following the attack.Mr Trump on Thursday described the attack as “terrible” and extended sympathy to the Jewish community.