Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, March twelfth, and we have two breaking news stories we're keeping an eye on, one in Virginia the other in Michigan, both having to do with attacks of some kind at both places, one at a university, the other at a synagogue. Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rhoades. Let's start with the synagogue, and we will this school we're talking about as Old Dominion. We will get to that story as well. But these stories are happening and developing in the last
matter of minutes. But let's start with the synagogue robes, where it doesn't look like anybody was actually killed there, but it sounds like this potentially could have been a major attack.
It could have been horrific.
This is a synagogue that had young children being schooled. This is Temple Israel Synagogue and West bloom Field, Michigan, and this was quite the same. But it looks like it's a situation where security was on alert, they were on top of things, and they ended what could have been, as you pointed out, a horrific tragedy where at this point the only person in this attack who was killed was the person trying to attack.
This in agog, and some questions surrounding that about how this person died and rope you stopped me in. We've been looking at the same reports and piecing information together, but it appears this man had a rifle correct, but
never got off a shot. What they're explaining here to us, this person rammed the synagogue with his vehicle and was able to essentially drive the vehicle through the synagogue through essentially a hallway, eventually stopped was stopped by security, as you mentioned, who essentially opened fire on them, but robed A fire of some kind breaks out inside the vehicle, and they think that might be the way the man.
I'm not sure how he died yet exactly.
So some headlines because these are now just initial reports and this is a developing story. I mean, if you look at the video and the pictures coming out of this area in Michigan, the amount of police on the scene is remarkable. But yes, they say the vehicle caught fire.
Some of the headlines say that he was shot by security, fatally shot by security, and we know that he was shot at by security, but the vehicles certainly caught fire, so they don't know if the fire ended up taking his life or if he was actually shot to death. But either way, he was in the vehicle when it caught on fire. So we don't know if there were explosives in the vehicle. We don't know why the vehicle caught fire simply because shots were fired.
So that right now is the question we all know. I think most of us generally know. It doesn't happen with cars the way it happens in movies. You can't just thump it and a car explodes. It's hard to get a car to just simply catch fire. So what was going on in there? And that is a major question and a scary robes to consider what he might have had in the vehicle, which lends himself to what he might have been thinking and what he might have been planning.
That's correct, because if you look at some of the images that are coming out of this area near this synagogue near Detroit by the way, if you aren't familiar where West Bloomfield is, there was this huge plume of smoke coming up from the synagogue. That's how big this car fire or this explosion was, and so it could be seen from miles away.
So obviously, when you look at the.
Amount of police that have descended on this area. There are clearly bigger concerns of what was inside that vehicle, What is inside that vehicle. This isn't just oh okay, the active shooter situation has been diminished, the attacker is dead and police are on the scene. This looks like this is an on going serious situation.
This is an incredible police response. We're looking at it in some of the live pictures right now, but it is an enormous response. Here a press conference a short time ago with some local officials, law enforcement officials who said, no, we haven't handed over the scene. They essentially have to go through and make sure there are no incendiary device. He said that, yeah, to make sure there aren't any there. So again and again you have been now rogues, I
should We've been looking again. This is fast moving, but you've been looking at some of the conversation. Again, we know it's going to go here. But the concern right now is a lot of it. We see the pictures of bombs and missiles flying other places, but the concern is that makes its way to us in some way and people get inspired and want to attack.
Correct, because we actually heard from Iranian clerics and certain islam clerics inciting this war, saying our brothers and sisters around the world, attack the enemy aka the United States, in any way you can.
And so to have a synagogue.
A Jewish place of worship targeted in Michigan, which which is a hot bed of activity. But this is a huge synagogue, twelve thousand members. And again attached to the synagogue was an early childhood education center. And when this happened with the okay by police, there were images of parents, as you might imagine. I get chills just thinking about it and seeing it, rushing into that building getting their kids.
I mean, the fear and the chaos that ensued.
But there are reports now that there were mortars, some sort of bomblike material, bomblike devices possibly inside this car. And that is why we are seeing this ongoing increasing police presence around the synagogu.
Right, And it's a sprawling place. It is a huge campus, if you will, what we're looking at here, But that concern robes is going to be there, that conversation will happen. We've gotten word that yes, the president is aware of what's going on here. According to the press Secretary of the President is aware, but we have seen it in places all over the country. Already, certain sites are getting an extra level of protection because of the concern of
things like this. And as we look at these pictures, some of these I don't think this picture is live anymore, but still you have smoke coming out of this place. They're trying to understand what has caused that. Sob you, we're in a situation where there might still be trying to clear a building and can't necessarily get to it yet because it's not safe.
That vehicle is still in the buildings, and that vehicle is what exploded. That vehicle is what caught fire, and that is why we're seeing that smoke coming out of that synagogue. So imagine trying to you don't know completely what's in that vehicle.
You don't know what still could possibly explode. You don't know if the car has been booby trapped in any way.
So they have to proceed with caution, but they also have to proceed with urgency. This is a frightening situation, and this is exactly what folks have been concerned about, especially folks who are Jewish, who are concerned about Look, this is a US Israel led invasion on Iran, So it would make sense that potentially it could be linked to what we're seeing here, this attack, with what's going on in Iran.
Would you tell me the number you said there was a count, a stat of how many synagogues have been attacked?
You tell me, yes, I just saw a headline that five synagogues have been attacked in just the last five days. So there have been synagogues targeted and attacked around the world since the invasion of Iran. I shouldn't say invasion, but the attack of iran't we don't have boots on the ground, but the attack on Iran.
Oh, boy, get ahead of us, please, But that I did not.
I was a slip of.
The top, all right. So that is one ongoing that is a right now. That is a many by many getting updates on that story. The other is happening in Norfolk, Virginia at the campus of Old Dominion University, where we were getting reports and these are always robes. They are scared as hell when you see them, because a lot of us have been that kid on campus, A lot
of us have kids on campus. But anytime you see that a school is in lockdown and there's possibly an active shooter situation, any type of shoot on a campus that is certainly concerning. Stay here will give you the latest about what is happening on the campus of Old Dominion University.
Welcome back everyone, as we continue to monitor to developing situations. We just told you about the situation that is ongoing and in absolutely still developing as we record this out of just outside of Detroit, Michigan, where a synagogue was rammed and the attacker inside that vehicle was armed with
a rifle. That car has caught on fire and now we have a massive police presence as that it would be attacker has been killed, but they still have a lot to go through it determining if that car is still at any risk to the folks around the area inside that synagogue.
It is a developing situation.
So far, thankfully no one inside the synagogue was injured. The security there was able to take out or at least stop the would be attacker, and so that investigation is ongoing. But just across the country in Virginia, just shortly before that incident happened, we now know a gunman opened fire at Old Dominion University.
In Constant Hall.
Folks, I don't know exactly if it was a dorm or if it was some sort of a meeting place. But we know that some students who were inside that hall said they were taking tests or they were studying when gunfire rang out around just before eleven am Eastern time.
And we know that one person was killed.
We know that two others were injured, and we've been told that the gunman is dead.
That's all we have at this point, but that that campus was shut down on lockdown. They have given the students the all clear. But again that's one of those things where we don't know what the relationship was between any of these folks. Where it's supposed to be a bigger event. Is this a target event? They haven't and I have not seen that. Again, this is developing also in the past matter of hours, so please tell me.
I haven't seen the suggestion yet whether or not this was targeted or what this was meant to be possibly a bigger shooting.
Right now, officials seem to be completely unsure as to what motivated this shooting, and they are actively investigating it.
In fact, they have suspended canceled.
All classes, as you might imagine at Old Dominion, not only for today, but for tomorrow as well as they continue to try and put the pieces together of what exactly happened.
They had a press conference a short while.
Ago, but they really are unclear as to exactly why this happened, how this happened.
But they and they don't know.
They do not know if this was a targeted attack or not, but they do believe the latest information is that the gunman may have taken his own life. It doesn't appear as though security or police on the scene were the ones to take out this shooter. They do believe it was a self inflicted gunshot wound. But after he killed one person and injured to others, now there is there's someone actually was injured. It's a little confusing, but there's another being carried away by police and they
show somebody. There's a video out there online of someone in handcuffs being taken away from the scene. They don't know if that has anything to do with the shooting or not, but a lot of folks are trying to figure out what could have happened, what did happened on this campus. But this is a developing situation and the FBI is.
At both scenes.
Cash Bettel is making comments on both scenes, saying our agents are aware, our agents are aiding in the investigations, but these are early stages, and just with the state of things in the world right now, it's just it.
It feels chaotic, it feels frightening.
We hear about potential attacks in California, and now you've got these target attacks potentially or at least smaller attacks that are just as scary. I mean, kids going to school, young ones going to learn at a synagogue. I mean, it just feels like at this point everyone is just on edge given these developing stories.
Well, folks who just wanted to hop on and give you those updates, had two developing stories and they are still developing now. As always, top right corner of your Apple podcast app where you see our show page, there's a little button there that says follow click that you can make sure you can subscribe, make sure you get these updates. We weren't expecting to do this one, but the news was happening, so we wanted to hop on and give you an update. We always appreciate you spending
some time with us. I am TJ. Holmes on behalf of my dear Amy Robot. We will talk to you soon on