On March 12, 2026, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali rammed his car into a synagogue in West Bloomfield and fired shots. Leaving one security guard hospitalized, and severe damage to the building. The aggressor later died.
Ghazali’s attack on the synagogue is being labeled an act of terrorism, considering his attack was directed at a minority group of people. Jewish people. Senior class president Heidi Bryan, an openly Jewish individual at South, feels dumbfounded and scared.
“Growing up, I attended an Orthodox Jewish preschool, very similar to the kids at the synagogue,” Bryan said. “That very well could have been me, my friends and my family.”
Anti-semitism is growing nationally. Despite the Jewish population representing less than three percent of the population, according to the American Jewish Community, they bear 69 percent of all discrimination.
“There are so many anti-semetic movements right now,” Bryan said. “I’m still in so much shock that someone would ever do that.”
On the day of the shooting, social studies teacher Chris Booth’s kids were at his mother-in-law’s house, less than one mile away. The stakes were high, as questions floated around, such as, is the shooter on the loose?
“I was nervous for my daughters,” Booth said. “We were waiting for my mother-in-law to confirm they were okay. I was very concerned.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 2,700 total gun-related deaths in 2026, as of March 3. The fear surrounding the safety of students and people couldn’t be higher.
“[South] has plans in place in the event of a threat of an active shooter,” Booth said. “Each teacher has a protocol. I’m going to do everything I can to keep my kids safe.”
Charlie Marks ’27, whose father has been contacted to install safety measures at Detroit synagogues to prevent cars from ramming into them, as Ghazali did, provided his personal opinion.
“This kind of thing has become so common, it’s not exactly a surprise,” Marks said. “Targeted attacks against specific communities to achieve a larger, terrible goal make it so much harder to carry on presenting yourself as someone different than everyone else.”
Jewish people are clearly a target. As a community, Marks believes, it’s our duty to provide a welcoming and accepting environment.
“Whether you’re Jewish or Christian, everyone should be welcomed,” Marks said. “Synagogues and churches have a duty to be welcoming to the outside population; the unfortunate trade-off is that you can’t provide safety measures like security guards without being an exclusive fortress.”
