President Donald Trump speaks alongside Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, as they tour the Federal Reserve’s $2.5 billion headquarters renovation project, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A top federal judge in Washington on Friday blocked Justice Department subpoenas to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors after determining the government “produced essentially zero evidence” to support a criminal investigation of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, according to an unsealed court opinion.
“There is abundant evidence that the subpoenas’ dominant (if not sole) purpose is to harass and pressure Powell either to yield to the President or to resign and make way for a Fed Chair who will,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg said in his opinion.
“A mountain of evidence suggests that the Government served these subpoenas on the Board to pressure its Chair into voting for lower interest rates or resigning. On the other side of the scale, the Government has produced essentially zero evidence to suspect Chair Powell of a crime; indeed, its justifications are so thin and unsubstantiated that the Court can only conclude that they are pretextual,” the judge added.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro blasted Boasberg as an activist judge and has pledged to appeal the ruling.
The Justice Department’s probe centered on Powell’s testimony to Congress last year about cost overruns in a multi-billion-dollar office renovation project.
Powell rebuked the investigation in a video message in January as a politically motivated effort to influence the Fed’s interest rate policy.
The Justice Department’s move was met with heavy criticism from the Hill especially from key Republicans who stressed the importance of the Fed’s independence.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, warned Pirro’s office against attempting to appeal Boasberg’s ruling.
“This ruling confirms just how weak and frivolous the criminal investigation of Chairman Powell is and it is nothing more than a failed attack on Fed independence. We all know how this is going to end and the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office should save itself further embarrassment and move on,” Tillis said in an X post Friday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Secretary of Defense Peter Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff Gen. Dan Caine speak at a briefing at the Pentagon, March 13, 2026. (ABC News)
(WASHINGTON) — Top Pentagon officials on Friday pledged to combat Iran’s efforts to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a dangerous choke point for the world’s oil supply as the critical waterway stands out as a key piece of terrain to control in the war.
Iran has said it will continue to seek to shut down the key waterway, which threatens the safe passage of oil tankers and could lead to devastating effects on fuel prices and other parts of the market. The Strait of Hormuz is a critical and narrow waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil flows.
“It’s something we’re dealing with, we have been dealing with it, and [you] don’t need to worry about it,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters at a Pentagon briefing, asserting the U.S. won’t allow the strait to “remain contested.”
“The only thing prohibiting transit in the strait right now is Iran shooting at shipping. It is open for transit should Iran not do that. Now, there’s a reason why we chose as one of our primary objectives to destroy the navy. We understood the ability to interdict shipping is something Iran has done for 40 years. It’s key terrain,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth said the Pentagon has options for the strait but did not provide detail on how it would be reopened. U.S. forces continue a relentless barrage of attacks on Iranian missile and drone position, as well as other tactical pain points the regime needs to threaten the strait.
Hegseth noted that Friday is set to see the largest volume of strikes against Iran so far. Some 15,000 targets have been attacked by the U.S. and Israel.
President Donald Trump said he would consider U.S. Navy escorts of commercial ships to help ease an escalating crisis of the world’s oil supply, but remained noncommittal on Friday.
“Well, we would do it if we needed to,” Trump told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade in a radio interview. “But, you know, hopefully things are going to go very well. We’re going to see what happens.”
The Strait of Hormuz is only about 30 miles wide and just 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. Iran has mines that it can use to litter the strait, which would be an enormously complicated obstacle for ships in the area that are also vulnerable to Iranian missile and drone attacks.
Hegseth told reporters there’s “no clear evidence” Iran has yet placed any mines.
Ships are also vulnerable to Iranian missile and drone attacks. Several commercial ships have been attacked in recent days, both in the strait and Persian Gulf.
While the U.S. develops plans for the strait, Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said the focus continues to be strikes — some of the heaviest so far — against missile and drone platforms as well as factories to cripple Iran’s ability to manufacture new weapons.
Escorting tankers through the strait would be a complex operation, one that the U.S. military doesn’t execute often at such a high level.
“It’s a tactically complex environment,” Caine told reporters Friday when asked about the timetable for possible U.S. Navy escorts. “Before I think we want to take anything through there at scale, we want to make sure that we do the work pursuant to our current military objectives to do, to do that safely and smartly. So, we’re continuing to develop options.”
The closest comparison is from December 2023 through mid-2025, when the U.S. Navy and partner forces, including the United Kingdom and France, escorted commercial vessels through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden to shield them from Houthi drone and missile attacks.
The last time the U.S. Navy escorted ships through the Strait of Hormuz was in 1987 and 1988, during the so-called “Tanker War,” when Washington launched convoy operations to shield oil tankers caught in the maritime spillover of the decade-long Iran-Iraq conflict.
At least 140 service members have been wounded with the war as it approaches its second week. Thirteen service members have died. Six soldiers were killed by an Iranian drone strike at a U.S. tactical operations center in Kuwait, one was killed by an Iranian strike at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, and six service members were killed when their refueling aircraft went down in friendly airspace in western Iraq.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler contributed to this report.
This image provided by the FBI Feb. 5, 2026, shows a missing person Nancy Guthrie. (FBI)
(TUCSON, Ariz.) — The FBI has recovered additional imagery from cameras at the Arizona home of Nancy Guthrie, the missing mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie, sources briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
The images were recovered in recent weeks from motion-activated cameras trained on the swimming pool, backyard and side yard, the sources said.
Investigators were unable to recover video footage, but reduced-size, thumbnail images captured when the cameras were triggered by motion.
The cameras recorded nothing suspicious, the sources said.
Investigators were able to observe several people in the back and side yards over an unspecified period prior to the abduction. After Nancy Guthrie was taken, law enforcement officers are seen near the pool.
However, the cameras captured nothing on the night of the abduction, the sources said. Investigators have drawn no conclusions as to why, but one source described it as “odd.”
Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson-area home nearly seven weeks ago, in the early hours of Feb. 1.
The FBI has previously released photos and videos of an unknown armed suspect in front of Nancy Guthrie’s home on the morning of her disappearance, appearing to tamper with a security camera.
The masked man appears to have been at her front door earlier than Feb. 1, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.
The Pima County sheriff has repeated this week that he believes Guthrie was targeted, but investigators have released no motive and have identified no suspect.
Savannah Guthrie has offered a $1 million reward, bringing the combined reward between the family and law enforcement to $1.2 million.
Anyone with information is urged to call 911, the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI, or the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900.
Law enforcement respond near Temple Israel following reports of an active shooter on March 12, 2026 in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Police continue to investigate as emergency personnel remained on the scene. (Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images)
(WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich.) — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called on people to “lower the temperature” and call out antisemitism following Thursday’s attack on a Detroit-area synagogue that she said on Friday “could have looked a lot more like Sandy Hook” had it not been for security.
And while the governor and other leaders said law enforcement is trying to comb through more evidence about the incident, more information is coming to light about the man who was killed by security guards after he rammed his truck into the temple.
Dearborn Heights Mayor Mo Baydoun said that 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, who lived in his city, had “lost several members of his own family … in an Israeli attack on their home in Lebanon.”
Baydoun joined other leaders in condemning the attack, which took place as children were inside the temple.
“This tragedy comes at a time when communities everywhere are confronting rising hate and senseless violence. No matter where violence occurs, whether in West Bloomfield or anywhere around in the world, harm against innocent people is something we must all stand firmly against,” he said.
“The tensions we see across the world too often find their way into our own neighborhoods, reminding us how deeply connected our shared safety is,” the mayor added.
The suspect was armed with a rifle, and the truck contained fireworks and an unidentified chemical agent that ignited soon after the crash, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Nobody inside the synagogue was hurt, and the synagogue noted that all 140 students as well as staff, teachers and security all returned home, Whitmer told reporters Friday morning.
The sheriff’s office said one synagogue security guard was hit by the suspect’s truck in the incident and was “knocked unconscious” but was expected to be okay.
Whitmer said she was angry at the situation and said the Jewish community has been on heightened alert because of the rise in antisemitic attacks, threats and rhetoric over the last couple of months.
“People like the person who attacked this community yesterday get fulminated by rhetoric that they see online and they see on television and hear on the radio. It radicalizes them,” she said.
The governor reiterated that there were children under a year old inside the synagogue during the incident.
“My friend Brian said this could have looked a lot more like Sandy Hook. Let’s not lose sight of that,” Whitmer said.
“This is not a political debate, this is targeting babies who are Jewish. This is antisemitism at its absolute worst,” she added.
A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Six service members were killed when their refueling aircraft “went down” in friendly airspace in western Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command.
“All six crew members aboard a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq are now confirmed deceased. The aircraft was lost while flying over friendly airspace March 12 during Operation Epic Fury,” CENTCOM said Friday.
The KC-135 aircraft went down at approximately 2 p.m. ET on Thursday when two aircraft were involved in “an incident,” CENTCOM said in a brief statement, confirming that “one of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.”
Gen. Dan Caine addressed the crashed refueling plane, saying the incident is being treated as an active rescue and recovery mission.
“The incident occurred over friendly territory in western Iraq while the crew was on a combat mission, and again, was not the result, as CENTCOM has said, was not the result of hostile or friendly fire,” Caine said Friday. “We’re still treating this as an active rescue and recovery operation, as CENTCOM announced this morning, four airmen have been recovered, and the Air Force and US Central Command will provide updates as information becomes available.”
The other aircraft involved was also a KC-135 tanker, according to a U.S. official.
The circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation and the identities of the service members who died in the incident are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified, officials said.
KC-135 aircraft are not equipped with parachutes and do not have ejection seats, which are primarily in fighter aircraft, officials have told ABC News.
Passengers and crew members of KC-135s instead are trained on how to exit the aircraft when it is on land or on water, officials said.
According to a 2008 Air Force profile of the tanker crews, the move to get rid of parachutes was made because the tankers “seldom have mishaps, and the likelihood a KC-135 crew member would ever need to use a parachute is extremely low.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling. (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — Four service members were killed when their refueling aircraft “went down” in friendly airspace in western Iraq, according to U.S. Central Command.
“Four of six crew members on board the aircraft have been confirmed deceased as rescue efforts continue,” CENTCOM said Friday.
The KC-135 aircraft went down at approximately 2 p.m. ET when two aircraft were involved in “an incident,” CENTCOM said in a brief statement Thursday, confirming that “one of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely.”
Gen. Dan Caine addressed the crashed refueling plane, saying the incident is being treated as an active rescue and recovery mission.
“The incident occurred over friendly territory in western Iraq while the crew was on a combat mission, and again, was not the result, as CENTCOM has said, was not the result of hostile or friendly fire,” Caine said Friday. “We’re still treating this as an active rescue and recovery operation, as CENTCOM announced this morning, four airmen have been recovered, and the Air Force and US Central Command will provide updates as information becomes available.”
The other aircraft involved was also a KC-135 tanker, according to a U.S. official.
The circumstances of the incident are currently under investigation and the identities of the service members who died in the incident are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin have been notified, officials said.
KC-135 aircraft are not equipped with parachutes and do not have ejection seats, which are primarily in fighter aircraft, officials have told ABC News.
Passengers and crew members of KC-135s instead are trained on how to exit the aircraft when it is on land or on water, officials said.
According to a 2008 Air Force profile of the tanker crews, the move to get rid of parachutes was made because the tankers “seldom have mishaps, and the likelihood a KC-135 crew member would ever need to use a parachute is extremely low.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
People wait in long TSA lines as the partial government shutdown continues for several weeks at airports like Chicago OâHare in Chicago, IL, United States on March 09, 2026 (Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — The Transportation Security Administration rolled out a new video at airports across the country Friday warning travelers of longer-than-usual wait times and staffing shortages, blaming Democrats for the partial government shutdown.
“You may be experiencing longer-than-average wait times due to the ongoing Democrat shutdown of TSA and the Department of Homeland Security,” the agency’s video message says.
At several airports nationwide, passengers have seen security wait times ranging from 20-30 minutes to as long as two hours at certain points, with travelers being advised to arrive at the airport early to allow adequate time for screening.
The roughly 30-second video message was released as TSA officers begin receiving their first $0 paycheck Friday, with the length of the shutdown nearing a month. The message also encourages travelers to show gratitude toward the TSA officers.
“The TSA Officers you are interacting with have shown up to work despite having missed paychecks. Please take the opportunity to thank the dedicated men and women of the TSA when you fly today,” the video message says.
Assaults on TSA officers have increased during the shutdown, Acting Deputy Administrator Adam Stahl told ABC.
“We’ve seen increases in assaults on our TSA officers which is always completely unacceptable, particularly unacceptable right now,” he said in an interview. “And so we just ask our passengers to please be respectful, thank them because they’re doing an incredibly difficult job under incredibly difficult circumstances.”
Stahl said the agency has “zero tolerance” for such behavior and works with the law enforcement authorities, including the Department of Justice, so those responsible face ramifications for their actions.
Though the rate of unscheduled absences by TSA officers has more than doubled since the shutdown began, Stahl said there are no safety concerns about TSA’s operations and that the agency’s focus remains on the impact to wait times.
“We don’t have any significant concerns about the integrity of the screening process right now as it stands, but again this is going to continue to worsen as the days continue and we’re really focused and really urge Senate Democrats to get back to the drawing table, get back to negotiating table, so we can get back to normal operations,” Stahl said.
A similar video featuring outgoing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was rolled out by the agency during last year’s government shutdown. It received pushback from several major airports that refused to play it, citing the Hatch Act — a law that restricts the political activities of federal employees, as well as some state and local employees who are involved in or work in federally funded programs.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a fourth vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security, refusing to fund the agency without any reforms to ICE and CBP.
The package would have provided funding for the Department of Homeland Security through September. The agency has been shut down since Feb. 14.
Ahead of the vote, Democrats once again attempted to get support to fund other agencies, besides ICE and CBP, that are a part of DHS and that have been shut down. After their effort to fund all other agencies besides CBP and ICE was blocked Wednesday by Republicans, Democrats took a piecemeal approach Thursday, making individual requests to pass funding for TSA, CISA, Coast Guard and FEMA.
“What Republicans are saying is that we want to hold TSA, our airports, the protection of our coastline, the defense of this nation from cyberattacks and our response to emergencies hostage to their determination to continue to fund a law enforcement operation at ICE that is out of control,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said during a speech on the floor as part of the Democratic effort to pass the bills to fund the individual agencies.
Republicans blocked each of those efforts, arguing that the whole of DHS should be funded.
“To my Democrat colleagues, if you have a bill that you want to defund ICE with, put it on the floor. I guarantee you it will get voted down because it is an extremely unpopular position. We are not going to let you get to that result by way of holding everyone else hostage. If you want to support all the agencies in this negotiated bill you have a way to do it,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mont., said.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this story.
In this photo released by the Norfolk Police Department, first responders are shown at the scene of a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 12, 2026. (Norfolk Police Department)
(NORFOLK, Va.) — A person was killed and two others were wounded in a shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday.
The school shooting was allegedly committed by a former Army National Guardsman who was convicted of giving material support to ISIS, an FBI official told ABC News.
The gunman opened fire in Constant Hall, an academic building, around 10:43 a.m. and was found dead minutes after officers arrived, Old Dominion University Police Chief Garrett Shelton said during a press briefing.
The suspected gunman was identified as Mohamed Jalloh, who was previously convicted in 2016 of attempting to provide material support to the Islamic militant group.
Two of the victims were members of the university’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, according to U.S. Army Cadet Command.
Students in the ROTC class fought the shooter, an Army official told ABC News.
Jalloh, a former member of the Army National Guard, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2017 and released in December of 2024, according to Bureau of Prisons records.
He allegedly walked into a room and asked if it was an ROTC class, and when someone answered, “yes,” he shot the instructor several times, according to sources.
When he pleaded guilty in 2016, Jalloh admitted he had communicated with a member of ISIS who was located overseas who introduced him to an individual in the U.S. who was actually an FBI confidential informant.
The ISIS member was believed to be actively plotting an attack and believed Jalloh would assist the informant in carrying it out. During one meeting with the FBI informant, Jalloh was asked about a timeline for an operation and commented that it was better to plan an attack for the month of Ramadan, court records say.
Prosecutors had recommended Jalloh serve 20 years in prison. It’s not immediately clear why he was released before the end of his 11-year sentence, though it is not unusual in the federal prison system for inmates to be released before serving their full term of imprisonment.
A sophomore named Jennifer told ABC Hampton, Virginia, affiliate WVEC that she was waiting for a midterm exam when she heard a group of people saying, “get out, get out, get out.”
“All of a sudden, we heard a commotion. A lot of people rumbling, starting to get up,” she said. “The guy next to me, we looked at each other, we started running, and that’s when we heard, you know, gunshots.”
She commended the university’s quick communication through alerts, saying, “I’m very, very proud of how quick the situation was handled.”
Shelton told reporters that the investigation is still ongoing and they were combing through the campus for clues.
“We now have to search every single room in that facility. There were students that we found that were hiding and faculty and staff,” he said.
The police did not say how the gunman died.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that the bureau is treating the shooting as “as an act of terrorism,” and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force will be working with local police in the investigation.
There’s no longer a threat, the university said, adding that classes are canceled for the rest of the day and Friday.
“Today was a tragic day for the campus of Old Dominion University,” Old Dominion President Brian Hemphill told reporters.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House on March 06, 2026, in Washington, DC. The Trump administration held the roundtable titled Saving College Sports with leaders from the Power Four conferences, media executives and former coaches. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is facing an escalating crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply remains caught in the crosshairs of the U.S. and Israeli war with Tehran.
Trump downplayed the virtual standstill in and near the vital shipping route, saying on Wednesday it was in “great shape.”
But Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in a purported first message since taking over for his father, vowed Thursday that his country will continue to block the strait as leverage and capitalize on Iran’s economic weapon.
Attacks on shipping vessels have surged in the Persian Gulf this week, and oil prices jumped to more than $100 per barrel. In the U.S., gas prices rose to a national average of $3.59 a gallon, according to data from AAA.
The International Energy Agency said on Thursday the Middle East conflict is creating “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.” Member countries of the IEA have said they will release 400 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, a first such joint effort since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
To deal with the economic and political fallout at home, President Trump will tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said his department’s been authorized to release 172 million barrels from the reserve starting next week.
But analysts say those solutions are temporary, likely not enough oil in the long term to make up for the 20 million barrels that typically pass through the Strait of Hormuz each day.
Trump told Fox News’s Brian Kilmeade in an interview earlier this week that ships holding at the Strait of Hormuz need to “show some guts” and push through the channel.
Trump on March 3 had announced the U.S. government was going to provide some risk insurance and guarantees after insurers canceled their coverage.
He also said that if necessary, the U.S. Navy would escort tankers through the strait, a potentially risky proposition.
But as of Thursday, Energy Secretary Wright said the U.S. Navy is “not ready” to escort oil tankers because of the military’s current focus on striking Iran.
“It will happen relatively soon, but it can’t happen now. We’re simply not ready. All of our military assets right now are focused on destroying Iran’s offensive capabilities and the manufacturing industry that supplies their offensive capabilities,” Wright told CNBC.
When asked if the U.S. escorting of tankers could happen by the end of the month, Wright said, “I think that is quite likely the case.”
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly, when asked about Wright’s comments, told ABC News that Trump is “fully prepared to provide U.S. Navy escorts through the Strait of Hormuz if he deems it necessary. Our military has destroyed well over 20 inactive mine laying boats with more to come.”
Earlier this week, Trump warned that if Iran disrupted the Strait of Hormuz with mines, “the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before.”
Another potential avenue the White House said it is “considering” to mitigate the crisis is to waive the Jones Act, a century-old law that requires all goods shipped between U.S. ports be carried on U.S. owned-and-operated ships.
“In the interest of national defense, the White House is considering waiving the Jones Act for a limited period of time to ensure vital energy products and agricultural necessities are flowing freely to U.S. ports. This action has not been finalized,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement Thursday.
Trump, who could face political consequences of higher oil and gasoline prices in this year’s midterm elections, on Thursday tried to spin the rising costs as good for the U.S. overall.
“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump wrote in a social media post.
“BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World,” Trump added.
He did not comment on how expert say higher oil prices will hurt many companies and American consumers, although Wright, the energy secretary, insisted in an interview with Fox News that the individual consumer is Trump’s main concern.
“Overall for the U.S. economy, this isn’t bad news. But of course [what] President Trump is worried about is not overall, he is worried about every single American consumer. So yes, of course he is concerned about the rising energy prices through this short-term period that people have to suffer,” Wright said.
(WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich.) — A suspect is dead after a shooting and vehicle ramming incident at a synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan, according to Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard.
The suspect, who is believed to have had a rifle, died after a shootout with security, according to a senior federal law enforcement official briefed on the investigation.
Nobody inside the synagogue was hurt, Bouchard said, and the synagogue noted that all 140 students as well as staff, teachers and “heroic security personnel” are all accounted for.
Eight first responders are being treated at hospitals, Henry Ford Health said.
The sheriff noted that one synagogue security guard was hit by the suspect’s truck and was “knocked unconscious” but is expected to be OK.
Temple Israel in a statement said the security personnel who confronted the suspect are “heroes” and the “teachers followed their training and kept the children safe and calm.”
According to sources, the driver was seen steering around security bollards, and caused a fire when colliding the vehicle into the building’s front doors.
The sheriff said the suspect drove his truck into the building and down the hall.
Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny told ABC News Live that she was heading to Temple Israel when a staff member texted her saying they were hiding from gunshots under a desk.
Kaluzny said she drove directly to the synagogue and tried to go in the building but was not allowed inside, so she then drove to a reunification site where panicked parents were waiting for their children.
She said of the security guard who was hit by the truck, “This is someone who is not Jewish who is absolutely celebrating his relationship with the Jewish community, and we have embraced him and he has embraced us.”
“We are forever grateful to all of them and everyone who showed up to help us get through this,” she said of the synagogue security guards and the police responders.
Officials with the FBI Detroit field office held an active shooter prevention and preparedness training for the staff and clergy at Temple Israel in January, according to a social media post from the FBI.
“All of the training that we do is, sadly, necessary, but we saw today … that it paid off,” Kaluzny said.
“Everyone knew what to do … the teachers are absolutely heroes,” she added.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement, “This is heartbreaking. Michigan’s Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace.”
President Donald Trump said he’s been “fully briefed” on the incident.
“I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in Detroit, Detroit area, following the attack on the Jewish synagogue,” Trump said during a women’s history month event at the White House.
“It’s a terrible thing,” he said.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that he spoke with local Jewish leaders in Michigan “to receive an update on the situation and to express our solidarity.”
“I am relieved to hear that there were no casualties,” he said. “This is a grave and serious incident that follows a series of attacks on Jewish institutions around the world. Tonight, we send a message of strength and support from Israel to the Jewish community in Michigan.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
