Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41-year-old Lebanese-born U.S. citizen, behind terror attack on Michigan synagogue

Temple Israel synagogue.

The man who was killed after ramming a truck full of explosives into the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, on Thursday was an immigrant from Lebanon who specifically targeted the place of worship, officials have said, according to Fox News. 

Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, was identified by the Department of Homeland Security as the attacker. Ghazali arrived in the U.S. from Lebanon in 2011, became a naturalized citizen in 2016 and had been living in Dearborn Heights, according to the city's mayor, Mo Baydoun. According to Fox News, Baydoun said Ghazali targeted the synagogue as retaliation for what he claimed were the deaths of relatives in Lebanon whom he said were recently killed by Israeli airstrikes. 

Investigators say Ghazali rammed a truck full of explosives and a chemical agent into the synagogue's front doors not long after 1 p.m. on Thursday. He then emerged from the vehicle with a rifle and engaged in a gun battle with armed security guards. One of the security guards fatally shot Ghazali. One security guard was injured after being hit by Ghazali's truck during the surprise attack.

No one inside the synagogue was injured and officials credited the heroic and quick actions of the security personnel with saving lives. But the scene outside looked ominous as aerial images showed smoke rising from the building and an enormous response from local law enforcement. Officials said the truck was packed with fireworks and mortar-type explosives, according to CBS News, some of which caught fire. 30 police officers were hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.

"The security staff did an amazing job," local sheriff Michael Bouchard told reporters. 

Meanwhile, FBI agents were seen searching Ghazali's home in Dearborn Heights late Thursday night. The New York Post obtained photos of FBI agents combing through the dead terrorists belongings in search of clues. The Post also reported Ghazali called his wife ahead of the attack and told her to take care of the couple's children. 

His wife was a U.S. citizen and DHS records indicate they were married in 2009, and he first entered the country on an immigrant visa for spouses of U.S. citizens in 2011. Ghazali became a naturalized citizen in February, 2016, in the final months of Barack Obama's presidency and about 9 months before Donald Trump won the presidential election later that year.

Late Thursday, Trump commented on the attack, saying, "I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in the Detroit area. following the attack on the Jewish synagogue earlier today. I've been fully briefed, and it's a terrible thing."

Below watch aerial footage from live local news coverage of the synagogue attack on Thursday.