Suspect dead after 'apparent vehicle ramming' at Michigan synagogue

Smoke was seen billowing from the roof of a synagogue in Michigan after a truck was reportedly rammed into the Temple before shots were fired, as ITV News US Correspondent Dan Rivers reports

A suspect has died after an apparent ‘vehicle ramming’ into a synagogue in Michigan, officials have said.

The person was found dead in the vehicle at the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, outside Detroit, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on Thursday.

One of the security guards was taken to the hospital after being hit by the vehicle, he said, but they are expected to recover.

It is not thought any of the children or staff were injured.

After the vehicle hit the building, security opened gunfire, killing the suspect, a law enforcement official told ITV News’ US partner CNN.

Emergency responders found what appeared to be a large amount of explosives in the back of the vehicle, according to multiple law enforcement officials briefed on the scene.

Clearing the vehicle of any explosives is a “work in progress”, Bouchard said.

Some parents collected their children from an early childhood learning centre inside the building after getting approval from police, while West Bloomfield School District went on lockdown.

Earlier Michigan’s governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a statement saying it was “heartbreaking”.

“Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace,” she said.

Temple Israel calls itself the nation’s largest Reform synagogue, with 12,000 members. according to its website.

It has an early childhood education center and offers educational programs for families and adults.

The website says the synagogue is “passionate about helping Jewish communities across the globe” and that its mission is to “create a community building through the lens of Reform Judaism”.

The Jewish Federation of Detroit advised all Jewish organisations in the area “to go into lockout protocol – nobody in or out of your building.”