THE FBI ATTACKS THE TEXAS SYNAGOGUE TO FREE THE HOSTAGES, AND THE GUNMAN IS KILLED

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On Saturday night, an FBI Hostage Rescue Team stormed a Colleyville synagogue to liberate three remaining captives of a gunman who had disrupted a religious service and started a confrontation with authorities more than 10 hours earlier.

At a news conference on Saturday night, Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller announced that all of the hostages had been freed safely and that the gunman had been killed.

Officials claimed the gunman had taken four individuals hostage at Congregation Beth Israel, including the rabbi. Six hours later, one of the hostages was released unharmed. Shortly before Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced the crisis was over, local media reported hearing explosions, presumably flashbangs, and shooting.

"Prayers were heard. "All of the hostages are alive and well," Abbott tweeted.

The FBI stated they had confirmed the gunman's identity but would not reveal it just yet. The FBI declined to comment on the reason of his death, stating that it was still being investigated.

The Colleyville Police Department said SWAT teams were dispatched to the synagogue in response to emergency calls beginning at 10:41 a.m., during the live-streamed Shabbat service. Soon after, FBI negotiators made contact with the individual, who stated that he wanted to talk with a woman who was being imprisoned in a federal jail. There were no casualties among the hostages.

During a Facebook video of the Reform Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, some 26 kilometres northeast of Fort Worth, the man could be heard having a one-sided conversation in what appeared to be a phone call in the first few hours. Around 3 p.m. EST, the livestream ended (2000 GMT).

The man could be heard yelling and raving about religion and his sister before the broadcast terminated, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. According to the publication, the man could be heard constantly screaming that he didn't want to see anyone injured and that he believed he was going to die.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation, while Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett expressed his concern for the hostages' safety on Twitter.

Barry Klompus, who has been a member of the group since its inception in 1999, said he watched the broadcast. In a telephone interview, Klompus remarked, "It was dreadful listening and seeing."

According to a US official briefed on the situation, the hostage-taker claimed to be the brother of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year sentence in the US for shooting at soldiers and FBI agents in 2010, and demanded her release. Siddiqui is currently being imprisoned in a federal prison near Fort Worth.

In a statement to CNN, Siddiqui's lawyer, Marwa Elbially, stated that the man was not Siddiqui's brother. He pleaded with the man to free the captives, stating that Siddiqui's family was outraged by his "heinous" conduct.

The man's acts were denounced by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim advocacy organisation in the United States. In a statement, CAIR said, "This latest antisemitic attack on Jewish Americans worshipping at a synagogue is an act of pure evil."

Klompus said he was unaware of any serious threats against the group in the past.

"We don't have a security person on staff," he explained, "but we have a very strong relationship with the local cops."


 

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