“Police in Colleyville, Texas, involved in standoff at synagogue.
Authorities are negotiating with a man who has reportedly taken people hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, during services on Saturday that were being streamed live, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Colleyville Police Department posted on Twitter earlier on Saturday that it was conducting SWAT operations on the block where Congregation Beth Israel is located and said that all residents in the immediate area were being evacuated.
Evidently a jihadist mad that his jihadist sister was jailed:
Via @AaronKatersky – Aafia Siddiqui is a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted in Manhattan federal court in 2010 of trying to kill US soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan.
She was sentenced to 86 years in prison. Hostage-taker in TX claiming Siddiqui is his sister. @ABC— Erielle Reshef (@ErielleReshef) January 15, 2022
Updates as they occur…
Update: One hostage released.
Update 2: All hostages rescued alive and well.
#BREAKING: Gov. Abbott says all hostages have been rescued alive and safe. This comes just after our @DavidSFOX4 heard what sounded like a flash bang followed by multiple gunshots – at the scene near a Synagogue in Colleyville https://t.co/l4Q06WHQsi https://t.co/d3y7FgBYEb
— FOX 4 NEWS (@FOX4) January 16, 2022
Not word yet on the hostage-taker.
Update 3: Hostage-taker reported dead.
I can confirm the hostage-taker is dead.
— Karol Markowicz (@karol) January 16, 2022
Update 4: Dead hostage-taker identified as UK citizen Malik Faisal Akram.
We may never know the motivation of Malik Faisal Akram, who attacked a synagogue to release an Al Qaeda terrorist.
— Sunny McSunnyface (@sunnyright) January 16, 2022
Here’s a profile Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who was praised for remaining cool during the entire hostage event.
Update 5: NRO has an interview with the rabbi.
The terrorist, who the FBI named as 44-year-old British national Malik Faisal Akram, reportedly knocked on the door of the synagogue before Cytron-Walker welcomed him in and made him a cup of tea. Struggling to speak on air, the rabbi said that he didn’t notice anything suspicious about the character until they prayed together.
The rabbi said he realized something was amiss when, during prayer, as his back was turned away from the man, he heard a click and “it was his gun.” The man then revealed himself and started ranting for hours about his family and Islam, according to a Facebook livestream broadcast from inside the house of worship.
“If anyone tries to enter this building, I’m telling you . . . everyone will die,” he said during the livestream. He demanded the prison release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted of attempting to murder U.S. soldiers while Siddiqui was in their custody in Afghanistan in 2010.
Snip.
“During the last hour of the standoff, he wasn’t getting what he wanted. It didn’t look good, it didn’t sound good. We were terrified. And when I saw an opportunity where he wasn’t in a good position, I made sure that the two gentlemen who were with me, that they were ready to go. The exit wasn’t too far away,” he explained. “I told them to go, I threw a chair at the gunman, and I headed for the door, and all three of us were able to get out without a shot being fired.”