Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, the man federal officials identified as the suspect in the attack on a synagogue in suburban Detroit on Thursday, had worked in Dearborn Heights, Mich., a nearby suburb with a large Lebanese community.
Acquaintances of Mr. Ghazali in Dearborn Heights said they were stunned to learn that the suspect who the authorities said had rammed his truck into a synagogue could be the person they saw taking orders each night at Hamido, a popular business known for its Mediterranean food.
“He’s the face of the restaurant,” said Rami Achkar, who was a regular at Hamido. “I’ve known him for years.”
Mr. Ghazali, 41, was a naturalized citizen who was born in Lebanon, the Department of Homeland Security said. He entered the country in 2011 after he had been issued a visa given to foreign-born spouses of U.S. citizens, and became a citizen in 2016.
Inside Hamido, employees handling the dinner rush looked somber and distracted as a group of reporters and photographers stood outside while customers left with orders of chicken shawarma to go.
Employees mostly declined to comment and those who did said they did not want to give their names. One worker said Mr. Ghazali had been away from the restaurant in recent weeks. “It’s very bad, it’s very bad,” another employee said, as residents of Dearborn Heights shared the news that the attack on a synagogue in West Bloomfield, about a 30-minute drive away, could have been perpetrated by someone in their own community.
Orlando Mayorquín contributed reporting.
Julie Bosman is the Chicago bureau chief for The Times, writing and reporting stories from around the Midwest.
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