Updated March 16, 2026 — A woman who identified herself as the ex-wife of the man accused in last week’s attack at Temple Israel called 911 to warn dispatchers that he was “not stable,” according to a recording obtained by CBS News Detroit.
The caller, who gave her name as ‘Fatima,’ contacted Dearborn Heights dispatch on March 12 at about 12:26 p.m., near the time of the incident in West Bloomfield. She told the dispatcher the suspect, identified by authorities as Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, was suicidal and that she had been assisting him with funeral arrangements after he reportedly lost two brothers in an airstrike in Lebanon amid the wider regional conflict. A source in the local Lebanese-American community told CBS News that Fatima placed the call after Ghazali told her to ‘take care of my children.’
When the dispatcher asked whether Ghazali had weapons, the caller said she did not know and expressed fear, saying she believed he was alone. She described him as ‘really upset’ and repeated that he had been urging her to look after his family.
Dearborn Heights police confirmed they received the call at about 12:26 p.m., roughly the same time law enforcement says Ghazali carried out the attack at Temple Israel. Authorities have said Ghazali drove to the synagogue before 10 a.m. and remained in the parking lot for about two hours. At approximately 12:19 p.m., police say he rammed his truck into an entrance, striking a security officer. A gunfight with security officers followed; the FBI says Ghazali died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound and the vehicle caught fire.
Temple Israel said all 140 students and staff were accounted for and safe; Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard noted the children’s day care was located in a different area of the building. The security guard who was hit by the vehicle was taken to a hospital. Dozens of law enforcement personnel were treated for smoke inhalation.
The Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that Ghazali, who was born in Lebanon, entered the United States legally in 2011 after being sponsored by his then-wife and became a U.S. citizen in 2016.
On Sunday, Israel’s military said one of Ghazali’s brothers, named as Ibrahim Muhammad Ghazali, was a Hezbollah commander who had been killed in a strike prior to the synagogue attack. Sources in Lebanon told a freelance journalist working with CBS News that two of Ghazali’s brothers served in a Hezbollah rocket unit in southern Lebanon.
The FBI has characterized the Michigan incident as a ‘targeted attack of violence against the Jewish community.’
Ash-har Quraishi and Lucia I. Suarez Sang contributed to this report.