COLLEYVILLE, Texas — Authorities say a man has taken hostages at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, near Fort Worth, during Saturday morning worship services.
The Colleyville Police Department tweeted Saturday afternoon that it was conducting SWAT operations at the address of Congregation Beth Israel.
FBI Dallas spokeswoman Katie Chaumont said an FBI SWAT team was also at the scene and that crisis negotiators had been communicating with someone inside the synagogue. But she could not say whether the person was armed and she declined to describe what the person had said to authorities, citing operational sensitivity.
There have been no reported injuries, Chaumont said, and authorities weren’t certain how many people were in the synagogue.
“It’s an evolving situation, and we have a lot of law enforcement personnel on scene,” Chaumont said.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that the service was being livestreamed on Facebook at the time of the incident, which is ongoing. At this time, the paper reports, it is unclear if anyone is injured and whether the hostage taker is armed.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, at points during the live stream, a man who seemed angry was heard rambling about religion. An apparent negotion between the hostage-taker and police was reported.
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.
The man repeatedly mentioned his sister and Islam and used profanities, and he repeatedly said he thought he was going to die, the Star-Telegram reported. It wasn’t immediately clear if he was armed.
It wasn’t clear how many people were in the building in Colleyville, a community of about 26,000 people 15 miles northeast of Fort Worth.
In a Twitter post, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke sent “strength to Colleyville” and urged people to avoid the area near the synagogue.
“If you’re in the area, please heed the warnings of local officials and avoid the vicinity around the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue,” O’Rourke wrote on Twitter.
San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro follows suit, praying for a “peaceful resolution.”
The Prime Minister of Israel is keeping an eye on the hostage situation as well.
Senator Ted Cruz and his wife Heidi offer prayer to all at the synagogue.
Cruz assures that he and his staff “are closely monitoring the situation and are in close contact with local and national authorities.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reports President Joe Biden was informed of the situation at the synagogue.
Psaki says Biden will continue to be updated as the “situation develops.”
Authorities are still trying to discern a precise motive for the attack. An official told The Associated Press that the hostage-taker demanded the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda. The neuroscientist is in federal prison in Texas after being convicted of trying to kill U.S. military officers while in custody in Afghanistan.
The officials said investigators have not positively identified the man and cautioned that the information was based on a preliminary investigation as the situation was still rapidly developing.
FBI Dallas spokeswoman Katie Chaumont said an FBI SWAT team was also at the scene and that crisis negotiators had been communicating with someone inside the synagogue. But she could not say whether the person was armed and she declined to describe what the person had said to authorities, citing operational sensitivity.
Police were first called to the synagogue around 11 a.m. and people were evacuated from the surrounding neighborhood soon after that, Chaumont said.
There have been no reported injuries, Chaumont said.
“It’s an evolving situation, and we have a lot of law enforcement personnel on scene,” Chaumont said.
Texas resident Victoria Francis told The Associated Press 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 lives in Rhome, Texas and 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.
When the livestream cut out, the man was getting pretty irate, Francis said.
“It’s a scary situation. I’m hopeful it ends the best way it can, obviously with no one hurt,” she said. “Especially in this area, you never think something like this is going to hit home until it does.”
Israel’s consul general in Houston is on her way to the scene of the incident, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement, adding that Israeli officials “are in close contact with American law enforcement agencies.”
Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist with advanced degrees from Brandeis University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was sentenced in 2010 to 86 years in prison on charges that she assaulted and shot at U.S. 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.
In the years since, Pakistan officials have expressed interest publicly in any sort of deal or swap that could result in her release from U.S. 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.
The following is a press release from the Colleyville Police Department:
According to the release, one uninjured male hostage was removed from the situation.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas says they, too, are continuing to stay up-to-date on the situation. Although one hostage was released, they say it’s believed that three others still remain in the synagogue; including the Congregation’s Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, along with the assailant.
The group says it will remain in close contact with all authorities involved in the case to offer as much assistance as possible.
This is a developing story. Check back later for further updates.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
