COLLEYVILLE: All four hostages who were held at a synagogue in Texas, US were safely released on Saturday night, more than ten hours after an armed man “demanding the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist jailed in the US,” disrupted a religious service and began a tense stand-off with the police.
The worshippers were finishing the Shabbat Services when the episode began. The man had initially taken four people hostage, including the rabbi, at the Congregation Beth Israel. One hostage was released unharmed six hours later.
A U.S. official briefed on the matter told ABC News the hostage-taker had claimed to be the brother of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, a former Pakistani scientist, who was sentenced in 2010 by a New York court to 86 years in prison for attempted murder of US officers in Afghanistan.
Members of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team stormed the synagogue to free the three remaining hostages. The gunman was dead, Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said at a news conference.
Local reporters said they heard the sound of explosions, possibly flashbangs, and the sound of gunfire shortly before Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the crisis was over. “Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe,” Abbott said on Twitter.
The Colleyville Police Department said it first responded to the synagogue with SWAT teams in response to emergency calls beginning at about 10:41 a.m. during the Shabbat service, which was being broadcast online. FBI negotiators soon opened contact with the man, who said he wanted to speak to Siddiqui, being held in a federal prison.
In the first few hours, the man could be heard having a one-sided conversation in what appeared to be a phone call during a Facebook livestream of the service of the Reform Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, which is about 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Fort Worth. The livestream cut off around 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT).
Before the livestream was ended, the man could be heard ranting and talking about religion and his sister, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. The man could be heard repeatedly saying he didn’t want to see anyone hurt and that he believed he was going to die, the newspaper said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Saturday evening that President Joe Biden had been briefed on the “developing hostage situation” and was receiving updates from senior officials. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Twitter he was praying for the safety of the hostages.
I am closely monitoring the hostage situation taking place in Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.
We pray for the safety of the hostages and rescuers.
— Naftali Bennett בנט (@naftalibennett) January 15, 2022
A lawyer representing Siddiqui, Marwa Elbially, told CNN in a statement the man was not Siddiqui’s brother. He implored the man to release the hostages, saying Siddiqui’s family condemned his “heinous” actions.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. Muslim advocacy group, condemned the man’s actions. “This latest antisemitic attack on Jewish Americans worshipping at a synagogue is an act of pure evil,” CAIR said in a statement.
