The Latest:
COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — A man held people hostage for more than 10 hours at a Texas synagogue where he could be heard ranting in a livestream and demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan.
One of the four hostages held at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville was released during the Saturday standoff.
Authorities say three others got out when an FBI SWAT team entered the building at around 9 p.m.
The hostage taker was killed, but authorities wouldn’t say who shot him.
A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity that the hostage-taker was a British national.
Original Story (1/15/21):
COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a man has apparently taken hostages at a synagogue near Fort Worth, Texas.
The Colleyville Police Department tweeted Saturday afternoon that it was conducting SWAT operations at the address of Congregation Beth Israel.
Services at the synagogue about 15 miles northeast of Fort Worth were being livestreamed on its Facebook page for a time.
FBI Dallas spokeswoman Katie Chaumont says crisis negotiators have been communicating with someone inside the synagogue and that there have been no reported injuries.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that an angry man could be heard ranting and talking about religion at times during the livestream, which cut out shortly before 2 p.m. and didn’t show what was happening inside the synagogue.
