Police in Detroit caution against speculation over the motive for the murder of a politically active leader of a local synagogue after she was found dead with stab wounds outside her home.
Police request FBI assistance in investigating the murder of Samantha Woll, 40, who presided over the Isaac Agree Downtown Synagogue, which serves metropolitan Detroit.
Police Chief James White urges “that everyone remain patient” while the investigation is underway despite “many unanswered questions.”
“It is important that no conclusions be drawn until all of the available facts are reviewed,” White says in a statement. “An update … will be forthcoming tomorrow.”
The murder came amid escalating tensions in Jewish and Muslim communities across the United States over the Israel-Hamas war that has taken thousands of lives since the terror group led a deadly onslaught in southern Israel earlier this month.
Emergency personnel found Woll dead “with multiple stab wounds to her body,” police say. A trail of blood led officers to Woll’s nearby home, “which is where the crime is believed to have occurred.”
The motive in the killing “is unknown,” a police statement adds.
The Detroit office of the FBI tells AFP in an email that it “will assist the Detroit Police Department as requested.”
The Jewish Federation of Detroit says Jewish security officials have been in touch with law enforcement about the case.
“No evidence has been shared to indicate this was a targeted act motivated by antisemitism,” the federation says. “We are all eager to understand the circumstance’s of Samantha’s death.”
It also says “there are no known threats at this time.”
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