DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. — New details have emerged about the Michigan synagogue attacker after a local television station obtained a 911 recording revealing his former spouse contacted authorities expressing concern about his mental state on the day of the assault.
WXYZ-TV reported that Ayman Ghazali’s ex-wife reached out to Dearborn Heights police around the time he launched his attack on Temple Israel and its early childhood learning center in West Bloomfield Township last Thursday. Federal investigators say Ghazali engaged in a shootout with security personnel before taking his own life inside his burning pickup truck.
The emergency call recording shows no evidence that the woman was aware of her former husband’s plan to target the religious facility, located approximately 25 miles from where he lived.
“I feel like he’s really upset,” the caller explained to dispatchers, according to the television station’s report of the 911 recording.
The woman informed police that Ghazali, a naturalized American citizen, had recently experienced the loss of relatives killed during an Israeli military strike on March 5 in Lebanon. The family held memorial services at the Islamic Institute of America in Dearborn Heights.
“He’s like suicidal,” his former wife warned officers during the call, adding that his “voice is not stable. I just want to make sure he’s OK.”
When asked about weapons, she said she had no knowledge of whether he possessed any. Police responded to Ghazali’s residence but found it empty.
According to federal authorities, Ghazali positioned himself outside the synagogue for two hours in his vehicle before crashing through the building where dozens of young children were present. Fortunately, no children suffered injuries during the incident.
Israeli military officials announced Sunday that Ibrahim Ghazali, the attacker’s brother who perished in the recent airstrike, served as a Hezbollah commander in Lebanon. The FBI’s Detroit field office, which is leading the synagogue attack investigation, has not provided comment regarding this characterization.
