From Michigan to Virginia: The day terrorism met resistance from unsung heroes

Two armed attacks occurred Thursday, both of which are being investigated as acts of terrorism. In Michigan, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali rammed his pickup truck into the Temple Israel synagogue, set a fire and opened fire inside the building. The temple's security team responded immediately and neutralized him in less than a minute, preventing fatalities among the attendees and the 140 children at the preschool.

That same day, at Old Dominion University (ODU) in Virginia, Mohamed Bailor Jalloh - with a record of attempting to support ISIS - stormed into a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) class and fired, causing the death of an instructor and wounding two students. The ROTC students themselves managed to subdue and disarm him before police arrived.

Authorities stressed that rapid intervention by trained civilians and security personnel prevented both attacks from causing a much higher number of casualties, against a backdrop of growing concern about antisemitism and domestic terrorism.

From attack to heroism: how a massacre at Temple Israel was prevented

The attacker, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, 41, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, crashed his pickup truck into the main entrance of the temple, smashed through the security bollards, broke through the doors and advanced down an interior hallway as the vehicle caught fire.

He was carrying a rifle and, according to some preliminary versions, also explosive materials. The impact caused a fire that filled the building with dense smoke. However, the attack was over in less than a minute thanks to the quick and decisive intervention of the synagogue's armed security team.

Temple Israel's security officers, a trained and armed team that had participated just six weeks earlier in an "active shooter" drill taught by the FBI, reacted immediately. "Temple security officers engaged the individual and neutralized the threat," Chief Dale Young told a news conference.

The guards opened fire on Ghazali as he attempted to continue the attack inside the building. The security team shot him down on the spot. "Security officers confronted the suspect and began firing at him," Sheriff Michael Bouchard confirmed. The attacker was found dead inside the vehicle or very close to it. It was not outside police who apprehended him, but the temple guards themselves.

As the shooting unfolded, the teaching and administrative staff activated the "active shooter" protocols they had recently practiced. The approximately 140 children at the preschool, along with staff, were evacuated in an orderly manner, with no civilian fatalities or serious injuries. About 30 members of the emergency teams had to be hospitalized, but only for smoke inhalation.

In statements collected by The Times of Israel, the temple's rabbi, Jen Lader, said: "Our team was so incredibly brave... they were the ones who neutralized the terrorist and saved everybody." In a letter to the congregation, Temple Israel explicitly described them as "our heroic security personnel" and "true heroes."

Terror at ODU: the ROTCs who stopped the massacre

Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, 36, a former member of the Virginia Army National Guard and convicted in 2016 of attempting to support ISIS - released in 2024 - walked into a classroom in Constant Hall, in the College of Business, where a Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program class was being held. He asked if it was indeed an ROTC class; upon confirmation, he shouted "Allahu Akbar" and opened fire.

The attacker immediately killed the instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Brandon Shah and wounded two ROTC students.

According to FBI Special Agent Dominique Evans, "There were students that were in that room that subdued him and rendered him no longer alive." Reports from police and FBI sources indicate that at least one of them fatally stabbed him during the close struggle.

University and Norfolk police arrived about 10 minutes later, but the shooter was already dead at the scene. He was not shot by police gunfire; it was all done by students without firearms.

The FBI is investigating the case as an act of terrorism because of Jalloh's record. Agent Evans and Director Kash Patel praised the ROTC as "heroes" for their "extreme bravery" that prevented more deaths.