Colleyville: Hostages safe and suspect dead, officials say | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

COLLEYVILLE

Latest developments on Monday:

• ‘TERROR at my synagogue’: Inside the 11-hour hostage standoff at Colleyville Beth Israel

• Colleyville hostage says gunman went on anti-Jewish rant

• Labeled a ‘menace,’ Colleyville synagogue hostage-taker wished he died on a 9/11 plane

• Colleyville rabbi says community will heal after hostage crisis

• Rabbi says he threw chair at hostage-taker before escaping synagogue

• ‘Let them go,’ Aafia Siddiqui’s attorney says in video for Colleyville synagogue gunman

Latest developments on Sunday:

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• What we know about the hostage-taker: FBI says he was a 44-year-old British national
  
  
• Rabbi says hostages seized chance to flee when gunman became threatening
• Biden calls the attack an ‘act of terror’ amid fears of copycat incident

• Pakistani woman whose conviction motivated hostage crisis spurns violence, lawyer says

• Attacks on America’s Jewish community on the rise long before Colleyville

• How a neighboring Catholic church cared for families of synagogue hostages

• Video captures frantic moments as hostages escape synagogue.

• Star-Telegram editorial board: What we witnessed was faith in action

Previous reporting during Saturday’s hostage situation:

The FBI and local police said at a news conference Saturday night that three hostages who were held in a Colleyville synagogue for nearly 11 hours are unharmed and the hostage-taker is dead after a hostage rescue team breached the building.

Authorities said the hostage-taker was killed in a shooting but did not answer a question about whether he was shot by law enforcement or if the gunshot was self-inflicted. The man claimed to have explosives, according to statements he made on livestreamed video, but police have not commented on whether any weapons were found.

Exclusive video taken by WFAA-TV photographer Josh Stephen shows at least some of the hostages running out of a door at the synagogue just before FBI agents enter the building. The footage, shot just before 9:15 p.m., shows a man who appears to be holding a gun following the hostages as they escape, then almost immediately going back inside.

Officials said the rescued hostages are being interviewed by the FBI and will be reunited with their families as soon as possible. Authorities did not release the name of the hostage-taker or the ages of the hostages, but did confirm they were all adults.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted about 9:30 p.m. that all hostages, including the congregation’s rabbi, were safe and out of the synagogue after a loud bang and gunfire were heard.

U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne first told a Star-Telegram reporter in a text that the hostage-taker was dead.

Police responded to Congregation Beth Israel, at 6100 Pleasant Run Road, about 10:40 a.m. when a man took four hostages during a livestreamed morning service at the synagogue. The man, who police say they have identified but have not named, released one hostage about 5 p.m.

“I am grateful for the safe release of the four hostages and thankful for the skilled and dedicated law enforcement who made their safe release possible,” Van Duyne said on Twitter.

A loud bang followed by what sounded like gunfire was heard about 9:12 p.m. Saturday by reporters outside the synagogue.

Colleyville police confirmed in a statement on social media the the situation was resolved and all hostages were safe then spoke to the media at 10:15 p.m.

Hostage-taker heard negotiating with police on live video

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. Control of the scene was then handed off to the FBI, including SWAT and elite teams whose sole mission is to negotiate and conduct hostage rescues.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Matthew DeSarno from the Dallas field office said the rescue of the hostages and death of the hostage-taker “was a result of a long, long day of hard work by nearly 200 law enforcement officers from across this region.”

Communication between FBI negotiators and the hostage-taker was nearly constant throughout the day, with some periods of silence. DeSarno said the hostages’ survival was almost certainly due to that constant communication.

“We do believe that, from engaging with the subject, he was singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community,” DeSarno said.

DeSarno did not discuss what that issue was during the press conference but said it was referenced in the livestreamed video of the hostage incident.

DeSarno said that the FBI doesn’t have any evidence of an ongoing threat and that a federal investigation will be conducted globally, with special focuses on Tel Aviv and London. “We will continue to work to find motives and we will continue on that path in terms of the resolution of the incident.”

Before the Facebook livestream was taken offline about 2 p.m., an angry man could be heard ranting, at times talking about religion. The video did not show what was happening in the building.

The man repeatedly mentioned his sister and Islam and used profanities. He was heard asking for his “sister” to be released from prison.

The man said a few times he didn’t want anyone hurt, and he mentioned his children.

He also said repeatedly he believed he was going to die.

A U.S. official briefed on the matter told ABC News that the suspect was referring to a known terrorist, Aafia Siddiqui, as his sister. Siddiqui is incarcerated at Federal Medical Center Carswell, a women’s prison in Fort Worth, and the hostage-taker was reportedly demanding that she be freed from prison.

According to ABC, the FBI did not confirm the hostage-taker’s identity. Anyone who supports Siddiqui’s cause might call himself her brother even if they’re not related. The Star-Telegram spoke with an attorney who previously represented a brother of Siddiqui. The attorney said she talked to that brother Saturday and he was not the hostage-taker.

Law enforcement had visuals on the hostage taker and were both comparing them with photos of her brother and against their own databases, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Aafia Siddiqui

Aafia Siddiqui is a Pakistani woman who is imprisoned on charges related to the attempted murder and assault of United States officers and employees in Afghanistan.

Aafia Siddiqui was transferred to FMC Carswell for medical reasons and is serving an 86-year sentence. The Pakistani government lodged a complaint against U.S. authorities after she reported she was assaulted by another inmate in July.

Aafia Siddiqui told her attorney 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. After the attack, Siddiqui was taken out of her cell in a wheelchair and then forced into solitary confinement, CAIR Executive Director Faizan Syed has said.

U.S. authorities say Siddiqui is a dangerous terrorist with ties to the ringleader of 9/11. Counter-terrorism groups have dubbed her “Lady al-Qaeda,” and U.S. officials once described her as “the most wanted woman in the world.” The U.S. 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 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, U.S. 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.

In Pakistan, she is widely portrayed as a heroine and martyr. Her family and supporters say the mother of three was falsely accused and used as a scapegoat in the “war on terror” after 9/11, according to a profile in the Guardian. In 2018, the Senate of Pakistan unanimously passed a resolution to take up the matter of Siddiqui’s freedom with the U.S., referring to her as “the Daughter of the Nation.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the hostage-taking incident in a statement.

“This antisemitic attack against a house of worship is unacceptable,” CAIR’s Houston chapter said in the statement. “We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, and we pray that law enforcement authorities are able to swiftly free the hostages and bring them to safety.”

“We want to make it very well known that the hostage-taker is NOT Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s brother, who is not even in the same region where this horrible incident is taking place,” the CAIR statement said. “We want the hostage-taker to know that Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her family strongly condemn this act and do not stand by you. Dr. Aafia’s family has always stood firm in advocating for the release of their sister from incarceration by legal and non-violent means only.”

At Saturday night’s press conference, the FBI would not confirm any connection between the hostage taker and Aafia Siddiqui.

“All I can confirm is that what you heard on the livestream you did hear on the livestream,” DeSarno said.

DeSarno said investigations into the hostage-taker, as well as an independent investigation into the shooting that occurred during the hostage rescue, are ongoing and that more details will become available over the course of those investigations.

Authorities said they’re also investigating why and how the hostage-taker targeted the Colleyville synagogue.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization with more than 400.000 members, said in a statement, “It’s no accident that a synagogue was chosen for this attack.”

“By all available information this was a well-planned scenario designed to gain entrance into the synagogue by posing as a homeless man,” Simon Wiesenthal Center CEO and founder Rabbi Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action, wrote in the statement. “The terrorist and those who planned this attack counted on the kindness of a rabbi to gain entry into the synagogue.”

Prayers for rabbi from local Jewish, Muslim leaders

Commenters on the livestream offered prayers for Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, 46, who was among the hostages. More than 8,000 viewers were watching the livestream.

A member of the congregation told the Star-Telegram most members watch the service online via Zoom or Facebook Live, and that’s why there were so few people in the synagogue. The four people who were taken hostage were running the service.

Cytron-Walker has served as the congregation’s rabbi first full-time rabbi since 2006. He is originally from Lansing, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan. Public records show he lives with his wife Adena Cytron-Walker in North Richland Hills and has two daughters.

“All we can do right now is pray for those members inside the congregation, for the whole community, and for our friend, Rabbi Cytron-Walker and his wonderful family,” Rabbi Brian Zimmerman and President Russ Schultz of Beth-El Congregation in Fort Worth said in an email message to members of their congregation while the standoff was ongoing.

“Some of you asked about security. President Russ Schultz and I want to assure you that all of our Tarrant County Jewish Congregations work closely with the Jewish Federation, local police departments, the Department of Homeland Security and a host of other professional groups to constantly evaluate our security procedures,” Zimmerman wrote. “Following what we pray is a safe resolution, those groups will certainly meet and learn from this situation for the future.”

Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said the department has increased patrols around synagogues and other relevant locations in the city. “We’ve also been in contact with members of the Jewish community to find out firsthand how we can best support them, in addition to the prayers they requested,” he said.

Jawaid Alam, president of the Islamic Center of Southlake, told the Star-Telegram that Cytron-Walker is a personal friend and a friend of the Muslim community who has promoted peace and cooperation across faiths.

“He is a peace-loving person, a Rabbi and Jewish leader, but a true friend of the Muslim community,” Alam said. “He and his family are considered part of the Muslim community, and he considers us part of the Jewish community.”

Alam said it is “unthinkable that this would happen at the synagogue of a peace-loving rabbi who has promoted interfaith talks.”

Cytron-Walker has been a teacher to the Muslim community in the region, not just to his Jewish congregation, he said.

“He has taught us how to live with people different from you and love each other,” Alam said.

He added that the Islamic Center of Southlake had not yet made contact with Cytron-Walker’s family to respect any space they may need, but wanted them to know the community is there for them.

“The Muslim community is with them and we will do anything we possibly can for them.”

Congregation Beth Israel began in 1998 as a community Chavurah whose members had relocated to northeast Tarrant County from other areas of the country, according to its website. Congregation Beth Israel was officially established on July 18, 1999, with 25 member families and affiliation with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, now the Union of Reform Judaism.

A new building with a 160-seat sanctuary opened in 2005. The synagogue also operates a religious school.

Timeline of rescue

Shabbat morning service began at 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the Reform Jewish congregation’s calendar, and police were called about 40 minutes later.

DeSarno said he could not offer any insight into why the hostage rescue team moved in when they did, but emphasized that it was a “deliberate decision,” which he was a part of making.

“As Chief Miller said, the FBI hostage rescue team, I consider one of the crown jewels of our organization,” DeSarno said. “Their mission is to conduct deliberate hostage rescues when necessary. In this in this case, we had a necessity for that. And they were successful, I’m very proud of that. I’m also extremely proud of the team of negotiators, FBI agents, local police officers who worked all day long and engaged with the subject and likely saved the lives of the subjects just through their engagement.”

The White House said on social media that President Joe Biden had been briefed about the hostage situation as it developed. “He will continue to receive updates from his senior team as the situation develops,” the White House said. “Senior members of the national security team are also in touch with federal law enforcement leadership.”

After the hostages were rescued, Biden thanked law enforcement and sent love and strength to the Colleyville congregation.

Biden said motivations for the hostage-taker remain unclear but decried acts of anti-Semitism. “There is more we will learn in the days ahead about the motivations of the hostage taker,” Biden said in a statement. “But let me be clear to anyone who intends to spread hate — we will stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country. That is who we are, and tonight, the men and women of law enforcement made us all proud.”

A police spokeswoman said after Saturday night’s briefing that there was no way to know exactly how long it would take for residents who were evacuated in the area to be returned to their homes, but police and FBI were working as quickly as possible to make that happen.

Jacy Phillips of Colleyville said her neighborhood group was alerted by Colleyville police Saturday morning.

“It was posted that police were evacuating some homes,” Phillips said. Her family lives a half mile from the synagogue.

“Colleyville is one of the safest cities in Texas and this is something that you don’t ever expect to happen in your own city,” Miller, the police chief, said. “The rabbi is a personal friend of mine. He’s a close friend of mine. And so obviously it’s very personal.”

“But, you know, I see lots of hope. And what we saw was a crisis here, but there’s lots of hope in how the community came together. I have received calls from my colleagues across the nation. I’ve received calls from people that I haven’t dealt with in many years across lots of my career. This community, other churches, have all reached out. Food has been brought. Our people have been cared for. And so, you know, lots of people praying today.”

Staff writers Eleanor Dearman, Kaley Johnson, Emerson Clarridge and Harrison Mantas and McClatchy senior national security and White House correspondent Michael A. Wilner contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 15, 2022 12:44 PM.