Hostages who had been held for hours inside a Colleyville, Texas synagogue were rescued Saturday night, according to Gov. Greg Abbott, bringing an end to a standoff that had lasted nearly 12 hours.
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"Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe," Abbott tweeted.
Abbott's tweet came not long after a loud bang and what sounded like gunfire was heard coming from the synagogue, where authorities said a man had held people captive as he demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al-Qaida who was convicted of trying to kill US Army officers in Afghanistan.
Video from a local TV showing two hostages running out of the synagogue during the kidnapping incident in Colleyville, Texas. pic.twitter.com/8XW0WVmAdA
— Media Warrior (@MediaWarriorY) January 16, 2022
Authorities said all four hostages held at Congregation Beth Israel were safe and unharmed. One was released during the standoff, three others were rescued when authorities entered the building. Authorities say the hostage-taker was killed but details of the rescue or his death were not immediately released.
The FBI said the gunman was specifically focused on an issue not directly connected to the Jewish community.
Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said about 200 law enforcement officers responded to the scene throughout the day. The North Tarrant Regional SWAT Team initially responded as officers evacuated residents from nearby homes and set up a perimeter. The FBI called in a SWAT team, an elite hostage negotiation team and its Hostage Rescue Team, Miller said.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Matt DeSarno said there was no immediate indication that the gunman had connections to any broader plan but that the agency's investigation "will have global reach."
At least four hostages were initially believed to be inside the synagogue, including the synagogue's rabbi.
The Colleyville Police Department said one hostage was released uninjured shortly after 5 p.m. Saturday. The man was expected to be reunited with his family and did not require medical attention.
Authorities were still trying to discern a precise motive for the attack. The hostage-taker was heard demanding the release of Siddiqui, and also said he wanted to be able to speak with her, according to officials. Siddiqui is in federal prison in Texas.
A rabbi in New York City received a call from the rabbi believed to be held hostage in the synagogue to demand Siddiqui's release, a law enforcement official said. The New York rabbi then called 911.
Police were first called to the synagogue around 11 a.m. and people were evacuated from the surrounding neighborhood soon after that, FBI Dallas spokesperson Katie Chaumont said.
The services were being livestreamed on the synagogue's Facebook page for a time. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that an angry man could be heard ranting and talking about religion at times during the livestream, which didn't show what was happening inside the synagogue.
Shortly before 2 p.m., the man said, "You got to do something. I don't want to see this guy dead." Moments later, the feed cut out. A Meta company spokesperson later confirmed that Facebook removed the video.
Multiple people heard the hostage-taker refer to Siddiqui as his "sister" on the livestream, but Faizan Syed, the executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations in Dallas Fort-Worth Texas, told the AP that Siddiqui's brother, Mohammad Siddiqui, was not involved. Syed said CAIR's support and prayers were with the people being held in the synagogue.
Texas resident Victoria Francis told the AP that she watched about an hour of the livestream before it cut out. She said she heard the man rant against America and claim he had a bomb.
"He was just all over the map. He was pretty irritated and the more irritated he got, he'd make more threats, like 'I'm the guy with the bomb. If you make a mistake, this is all on you.' And he'd laugh at that," she said. "He was clearly in extreme distress."
Francis, who grew up near Colleyville, tuned in after she read about the hostage situation. She said it sounded like the man was talking to the police department on the phone, with the rabbi and another person trying to help with the negotiations.
Colleyville, a community of about 26,000 people, is about 15 miles (23 kilometers) northeast of Fort Worth. The synagogue is nestled among large houses in a leafy residential neighborhood that includes several churches, a middle and elementary school and a horse farm.
Congregation Beth Israel is led by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who has been there since 2006 as the synagogue's first full-time rabbi. He has worked to bring a sense of spirituality, compassion and learning to the community, according to his biography, and he loves welcoming everyone, including LGBT people, into the congregation.
Anna Salton Eisen, a founder and former president of the synagogue, said the congregation has about 140 members and Cytron-Walker has worked hard to build interfaith relationships in the community, including doing pulpit swaps and participating in a community peace walk. She described Saturday's events as "surreal."
"This is unlike anything we've ever experienced. You know, it's a small town and it's a small congregation," Eisen said as the hostage situation was ongoing. "No matter how it turns out it's hard to fathom how we will all be changed by this, because surely we will be."
White House press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted Saturday evening that US President Joe Biden had been briefed and was receiving updates from senior officials.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said he was monitoring the situation closely. "We pray for the safety of the hostages and rescuers," he wrote on Twitter.
CAIR, the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, condemned the attack Saturday afternoon.
"This latest antisemitic attack at a house of worship is an unacceptable act of evil," CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement. "We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, and we pray that law enforcement authorities are able to swiftly and safely free the hostages. No cause can justify or excuse this crime."
Siddiqui earned advanced degrees from Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before she was sentenced in 2010 to 86 years in prison on charges that she assaulted and shot at US Army officers after being detained in Afghanistan two years earlier. The punishment sparked outrage in Pakistan among political leaders and her supporters, who viewed her as victimized by the American criminal justice system.
Siddiqui told her attorney, Marwa Elbially, she was attacked in her cell on July 30, the Dallas-Fort Worth sector of the Council on American-Islamic Relations previously told the Star-Telegram. Another woman reportedly smashed a coffee mug with scalding hot liquid into Siddiqui's face, the report said.
After the attack, Siddiqui was taken out of her cell in a wheelchair and then forced into solitary confinement, Syed has said.
US authorities say Siddiqui is a dangerous terrorist with ties to the ringleader of 9/11. Counter-terrorism groups have dubbed her "Lady al-Qaida," and US officials once described her as "the most wanted woman in the world." The US government has refused to trade her for American hostages multiple times, including for journalist James Foley prior to his execution by ISIS.
According to the US Department of Justice, Siddiqui was detained in Afghanistan in 2008. Officers who searched her found documents about the creation of explosives, descriptions of American landmarks and sealed bottles of chemicals, according to a press release about her arrest. While in the Afghan facility, US Army officers said, Siddiqui grabbed a rifle from an officer, pointed it at a captain and yelled, "May the blood of [unintelligible] be directly on your [unintelligible, possibly head or hands]." An interpreter lunged at her and pushed the rifle away as Siddiqui pulled the trigger, according to the DOJ. Siddiqui fired at least two shots but did not hit anyone. An Army officer shot Siddiqui in the torso.
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Elbially, Siddiqui's attorney, said Saturday "she has absolutely no involvement with" the taking of hostages at the synagogue and said the perpetrator is not Siddiqui's brother.
"She does not want any violence perpetrated against any human being, especially in her name," Elbially told CNN by phone. "It obviously has nothing to do with Dr. Siddiqui or her family."
"Whoever the assailant is, we want him to know that his actions are condemned by Dr. Aafia and her family," Elbially said. "We implore you to immediately release the hostages and turn yourself in."
In the years since her incarceration, Pakistani officials have expressed interest publicly in any sort of deal or swap that could result in her release from US custody and her case has continued to draw attention from supporters. In 2018, for instance, an Ohio man who prosecutors say planned to fly to Texas and attack the prison where Siddiqui is being held in an attempt to free her was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
