A man’s wife helped reunite children with their families after an attack at a temple in West Bloomfield.
Samuel Bennett said his wife works for J Family, which is an organization inside the JCC, the Jewish Community Center.
This is where children and parents were reunited after a truck crashed into Temple Israel before shots were fired on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
The attorney said he was leaving court when he got a message from his wife telling him that the building was on lockdown and sirens were going off.
You can watch his full interview in the video at the top of this article.
Bennett said he rushed over to the JCC and had been sitting in his car since then.
“I don’t think I’ve seen so many police cars in my life,” Bennett said, recalling the response from several agencies.
“And I think that really made me worried that it was worse than maybe we first thought,” Bennett said.
He said he let out a giant scream in his car when his wife texted him that she and the others inside were okay.
Bennett said he was also relieved to hear the children at Temple Israel were not injured.
Temple Israel released the following statement just before 4 p.m. on Thursday, saying all 140 students and other staff members are safe.
“Everyone is safe. All 140 students in our Susan and Harold Loss Early Childhood Center, our amazing staff, our courageous teachers, and our heroic security personnel are all accounted for and safe.
As you have no doubt heard, Temple Israel was the victim of a terrorist gunman who was confronted and neutralized by our security personnel who are truly heroes. Our teachers followed their training and kept the children safe and calm.
We are deeply and humbly grateful to our teachers, staff, security, law enforcement, and Shenendoah Country Club that welcomed us, fed us, and sheltered our staff, teachers, children, and parents. What incredible neighbors we have. What incredible police force we have
This note is coming to you before we know anything about our future programming or services, or any investigation. We wanted you to know we are safe, and we love you all."
Temple Israel Statement
He also said Temple Israel has an incredible security team, and he was glad that “nothing went any further than it did.”
One security guard was injured after exchanging gunfire with the suspect, according to police.
Officials would not confirm whether gunfire, the vehicle fire or another cause led to the death of the person in the truck.