Biden said there were apparently no explosives, despite the threats. Texas resident Victoria Francis, who said she watched about an hour of the livestream, said she heard the man rant against America and claim he had a bomb. Aafia,” said Floyd, who also is legal counsel for Mohammad Siddiqui. “We want the assailant to know that his actions are wicked and directly undermine those of us who are seeking justice for Dr. But John Floyd, board chair for the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations - the nation’s largest Muslim advocacy group - said Siddiqui’s brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, was not involved. Multiple people heard the hostage-taker refer to Siddiqui as his “sister” on the livestream. and people were evacuated from the surrounding neighborhood soon afterward.Īkram used his phone during the course of negotiations to communicate with people other than law enforcement, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Michael Finfer, the president of the congregation, said in a statement “there was a one in a million chance that the gunman picked our congregation.”Īuthorities said police were first called to the synagogue around 11 a.m. On Sunday night, the FBI issued a statement calling the ordeal “a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted." The agency said the Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating. It wasn't clear why Akram chose the synagogue, though the prison where Siddiqui is serving her sentence is in Fort Worth. authorities about the incident.įBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno had said Saturday night that the hostage-taker was specifically focused on an issue not directly connected to the Jewish community. London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that its counter-terrorism police were liaising with U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not intended to be public. recently on a tourist visa from Great Britain, according to a U.S. Kennedy International Airport in New York about two weeks ago, a law enforcement official said.Īkram arrived in the U.S. Speaking to reporters in Philadelphia on Sunday, Biden said Akram allegedly purchased a weapon on the streets.įederal investigators believe Akram purchased the handgun used in the hostage taking in a private sale, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Moments later, several shots and then an explosion could be heard.Īuthorities have declined to say who shot Akram, saying it was still under investigation.
#STANDOFF 2 WALLPAPER TV#
Video of the standoff's end from Dallas TV station WFAA showed people running out a door of the synagogue, and then a man holding a gun opening the same door just seconds later before he turned around and closed it. “Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself."Īkram could be heard for a time ranting on a Facebook livestream of the services and demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al-Qaida who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. “In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening,” Cytron-Walker said in a statement. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker credited security training that his suburban Fort Worth congregation has received over the years for getting him and the other three hostages through the ordeal, which he described as traumatic. President Joe Biden called the episode an act of terror. Greater Manchester Police tweeted that counter-terrorism officers had made the arrests but did not say whether the pair faced any charges. The investigation stretched to England, where late Sunday police in Manchester announced that two teenagers were in custody in connection with the standoff. The FBI said there was no early indication that anyone else was involved but had not provided a possible motive. COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) - A rabbi who was among four people held hostage at a Texas synagogue said Sunday that their armed captor grew “increasingly belligerent and threatening” toward the end of the 10-hour standoff, which ended with an FBI SWAT team rushing into the building and the captor's death.Īuthorities identified the hostage-taker as a 44-year-old British national, Malik Faisal Akram, who was killed Saturday night after the last hostages ran out of Congregation Beth Israel around 9 p.m.
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