Truck Attack on Michigan Synagogue and Virginia University Shooting Investigated as Targeted Violence

On March 14, 2024, a Lebanon-born U.S. citizen, Ayman Ghazali, crashed a truck into Temple Israel synagogue and its preschool in West Bloomfield, Michigan, causing a fire and injuring security personnel before being shot dead by security. The FBI called it a targeted attack against the Jewish community. Separately, a convicted Islamic State supporter fatally shot one person and injured two U.S. Army personnel at Old Dominion University in Virginia before being killed. These incidents occurred amid heightened tensions linked to the Iran-Israel conflict and a rise in antisemitic acts in the U.S.