The anti-semitic attack on a Jewish synagogue’s preschool could have ended up like the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the morning after carnage was thwarted.
All students and staff were miraculously unharmed after a wannabe bomber plowed his explosive-filled car into the Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, which was hosting preschool for some 140 children under 6 years old at the time.
Whitmer told reporters Friday that if it weren’t for heroic responders, the attack “could have looked a lot more like Sandy Hook” — referring to the 2012 school shooting in Connecticut when 20 first graders were gunned down.
“It was incredible how the teachers and the staff, how the local law enforcement, federal agencies, state agencies all worked together quickly [and] acted selflessly,” Whitmer said.
“I know they’re trained to do that, and they don’t even like it when you thank them for doing their jobs. But it’s incredible to see people run to the fire to help kids get out — and everyone got home last night.”
Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, a 41-year-old naturalized US citizen who has been in the country since 2011, drove his car through the temple’s entrance just after noon, knocking a security guard unconscious.
Other guards opened fire and stopped the driver as the car burst into flames, sparking a fire as police and firefighters swarmed the synagogue.
Ghazli was found dead inside the car and burned beyond recognition.
He was armed with a rifle, and mortar shells were discovered in the vehicle’s rear, sources told The Post.
At least 30 emergency responders are also being treated for smoke inhalation at local hospitals, police said.
Whitmer declined to say whether the attacks were motivated by the US-Israeli war with Iran.
However Ghazli, a Lebanese national, carried out the twisted attack after at least four family members, including a sibling, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon days earlier, sources close to the investigation told The Detroit News.
Both Whitmer and Sen. Elissa Slotkin called for Americans to put a stop to rampant anti-semitic rhetoric.
“Whether anti-Semitism is coming from the left or the right, whether it’s coming from some group that you like or don’t like, you have a responsibility to call it out,” Slotkin said.
“Because when you don’t, it gives permission for people to climb that … ladder of escalation that goes from saying hateful things online to saying them in person, to graffiti, to ultimately violence.”