COLLEYVILLE, Texas — The police on Saturday evening rescued a rabbi and a number of other hostages who had been held by a person who claimed to have weapons and explosives at a synagogue within the Dallas-Fort Value space, ending a tense 11-hour standoff, the authorities stated.
“Prayers answered,” Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas stated on Twitter after the standoff was over within the suburb of Colleyville, Texas. “All hostages are out alive and secure.”
Michael C. Miller, the Colleyville police chief, stated at a information convention {that a} hostage-rescue crew had entered the synagogue, and the suspect was lifeless.
He and different authorities declined to determine the person or say how he had died. They didn’t clarify whether or not any weapons had been recovered.
About 200 native, state and federal regulation enforcement officers had converged on the synagogue, together with a crew of F.B.I. brokers who flew from Quantico, Va., the authorities stated.
The person had taken 4 hostages throughout a morning service at Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform synagogue in Colleyville, a metropolis of about 26,000 residents that’s about 15 miles northeast of Fort Value, the authorities stated.
The Texas Division of Public Security stated the person had demanded to see his “sister,” who might not really be associated to him and who’s at the moment in U.S. federal custody for “terroristic occasions” in Afghanistan.
“The person claims he and his sister might be going to Jannah (Muslim perception of heaven) after he sees her,” the division stated in a press release earlier on Saturday.
The congregation had been holding a service at 10 a.m. It was being dwell streamed on its Fb web page when, the police stated, they have been referred to as at 10:41 a.m.
On the livestream, a person could possibly be heard shouting about dying and never liking law enforcement officials, though the context was not clear as a result of the stream was inaudible at instances. A video of the livestream didn’t present what was occurring contained in the synagogue.
The person may be heard demanding to get his sister on the cellphone earlier than the livestream stopped.
“It’s a deal,” he stated at one level. “It’s a deal I had with you.”
One male hostage was launched at about 5 p.m., the police stated. He was unhurt.
Chief Miller stated hostage negotiators had been chatting with the person all through the day.
President Biden put out a press release Saturday saying he was sending “love and power” to members of the synagogue and the Jewish neighborhood general.
“There may be extra we are going to be taught within the days forward concerning the motivations of the hostage taker,” he stated. “However let me be clear to anybody who intends to unfold hate — we are going to stand in opposition to antisemitism and in opposition to the rise of extremism on this nation.”
Eugene Posnock, a member of the synagogue, stated that she and different members had been following the service on Zoom when the person entered the sanctuary, disrupting prayers.
She stated all she heard was yelling within the background earlier than the connection was misplaced.
The hostage state of affairs got here as synagogues and Jewish establishments throughout the nation have been on excessive alert after assaults just like the one which killed a lady in Poway, Calif., in 2019, and one other that killed 11 individuals in Pittsburgh in 2018.
Bradley Orsini, senior nationwide safety adviser for Safe Neighborhood Community, which consults with synagogues throughout the nation on security procedures, stated {that a} colleague had suggested Congregation Beth Israel on its safety procedures final summer time.
The session usually entails making ready for an active-shooter state of affairs and creating consciousness of any safety threats, he stated.
Edgar Sandoval, Nadav Gavrielov, Vimal Patel, Campbell Robertson, Ruth Graham and Adam Goldman contributed reporting.
