A Texas SWAT team and police department responded to a hostage situation Saturday afternoon at a synagogue near Dallas, Texas.
The Colleyville Police Department announced that SWAT operations were evacuating residents located around “the 6100 block of Pleasant Run Rd.” in response to a hostage situation at 12:31 p.m. There were four hostages inside the building, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
Colleyville Police Department Sgt. Dara Nelson told the outlet that no injuries were reported and that FBI investigators were with the person inside the building, according to CNN.
A source familiar with the matter told CBS News that the suspect asked for the release of Aafia Siddiqi, a Pakistani neuroscientist convicted of multiple felonies, from federal custody. (RELATED: REPORT: Multiple Dead In Austria Shooting, Explosion Near Vienna’s Main Synagogue)
UPDATE 1/15/22, 2:20 PM The situation at the 6100 block of Pleasant Run Road posted about earlier remains ongoing. We ask that you continue to avoid the area. We will continue to provide updates via social media.
— Colleyville Police (@ColleyvillePD) January 15, 2022
About three hours prior to authorities’ arrival, the congregation posted a now disabled Facebook livestream where an anonymous man could be heard in what appeared to be negotiations about “releasing people inside,” Fox News reported. The man could later be heard repeating that he was “going to die.”
“I’m going to die at the end of this, alright? Are you listening? I am going to die. Okay? So don’t cry for me,” the man said.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides said he was “closely monitoring” reports of the hostage situation and was “praying for an immediate and safe end.”
I am closely monitoring reports of the hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Texas, where the community is gathered for Shabbat services. Praying for an immediate and safe end.
— Ambassador Tom Nides (@USAmbIsrael) January 15, 2022
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted that he was also “closely monitoring” the situation and hoped for the “safety of the hostages and rescuers.”
After a several-hour standoff with the police, the hostages were finally rescued and the captor was declared dead, according to the AP. The motive for the attack is uncertain.
The congregation is affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism and serves 157 membership families, according to its website. Charlie Cytron-Walker has served as the congregation’s first full-time rabbi since 2006, the website said.
“CBI is an intimate, vibrant, growing Reform Jewish congregation that has a lot to offer in terms of religious, social and educational opportunities for the youngest to our oldest members,” the website stated. “We are a sacred community that celebrates and mourns together, a community that supports and cares for one another, a community that is strengthened by the commitment of its members.”