Michigan synagogue attacker was “not stable” ahead of incident, ex-wife told 911 operator

A person believed to be the ex-wife of the suspect in the attack at Michigan’s Temple Israel last week told authorities that the suspect was “not stable” ahead of the attack, according to a 911 call obtained by CBS News Detroit. 

The person, who identified themselves as “Fatima,” told dispatch in Dearborn Heights that the suspect, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, was “suicidal.” The caller told dispatch that Ghazali recently lost two brothers in an airstrike in Lebanon amid the war in Iran, and she was helping him with funeral preparations.

A source within the local Lebanese-American community told CBS News that Ghazali’s ex-wife called authorities after he told her to take care of his children.

When asked if Ghazali had weapons, the caller said, “I don’t know at all … I’m scared. I don’t know if there’s anything. I know he’s by himself.”

“The way that he was talking to me, he was telling me, ‘Take care of my family,'” the caller later said. “He’s really upset.”

Dearborn Heights police confirmed that the call was routed to them at about 12:26 p.m. on March 12, which was around the time of the attack in West Bloomfield.

Authorities on Friday said Ghazali drove to Temple Israel sometime before 10 a.m. and sat in the parking lot for two hours before he rammed his truck into an entrance at about 12:19 p.m., striking a security officer. The FBI says the suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after engaging in a gunfight with security officers. During that time, the truck caught on fire.

Temple Israel confirmed that all 140 students and staff were safe. Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said the children’s day care was in another part of the building from where Ghazali was located.

The security guard who was struck was taken to a hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, dozens of law enforcement officers were treated for smoke inhalation.

The Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that Ghazali, a Lebanese-born U.S. citizen, entered the country legally in 2011 after receiving sponsorship from his then-wife, a U.S. citizen, and became a citizen himself in 2016. 

On Sunday, the Israeli military said that Ghazali’s brother was a Hezbollah commander who was “eliminated” in a strike prior to the synagogue attack. In a statement on social media, the Israel Defense Forces said Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali was responsible for managing weapons operations for the unit within the U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Sources told a freelance journalist working for CBS News in Lebanon that Ghazali’s two brothers were both members of a Hezbollah rocket unit in southern Lebanon.

The FBI called the attack in Michigan a “targeted attack of violence against the Jewish community.”