rabbi of a Texas synagogue where a Gunman held hostage during livestream services On Monday he said he threw a chair at his captor before escaping with two others after an hour-long standoff, crediting previous security training to getting himself and his teammates out safely.
Rabbi Charlie Citron-Walker told “CBS Mornings” that he let the gunman inside a suburban Fort Worth synagogue on Saturday because he needed shelter. He said the man was not a threat or suspicious at first. Later, while he was praying, he heard the click of a gun.
Another person taken hostage is Jeffrey R. Cohen described the incident on Facebook on Monday.
“First of all, we escaped. We were not released or freed,” said Cohen, who was one of four people at the synagogue for services that several other Congregational Beth Israel members were watching online.
Cohen said the men worked to keep the gunman busy. He talked to the gunman, he lectured him. At one point as the situation developed, Cohen said that the gunman told him to get down on his knees. Cohen remembered getting up in his chair and slowly nodding his head and saying “no.” As the gunman proceeded to sit back, Cohen said Citron-Walker shouted to run.
“The exit wasn’t very far,” Citroen-Walker said. “I told them to leave. I threw a chair at the gunman, and I headed for the door. And the three of us managed to get out without firing a single shot.
The authorities identified the hostage taker as follows 44-year-old British citizen Malik Faisal Akram, who was killed after the last three hostages fled the synagogue in Collieville on Saturday night at around 9 p.m. The first hostage was released shortly after 5 p.m.
The FBI issued a statement Sunday night calling the test a “terrorism case that targeted the Jewish community” and said the Joint Terrorism Task Force was investigating. The agency noted that Akram repeatedly spoke during the conversation about a prisoner serving a sentence of 86 years in the US. The statement followed comments Saturday by the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas field office that the hostage taker was focused on an issue “not specifically related to the Jewish community.”
Akram can be heard boasting on the services’ Facebook livestream and Demand for release of Afiya Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having links to al-Qaeda, who was convicted of trying to kill US military officers in Afghanistan.
“In the last hour of the standoff, he was not getting what he wanted. not like it. not like it. We were scared,” Citroen-Walker told “CBS Mornings.”
Cohen and Citron-Walker describe relying on active-threat training to manage a frightening situation, Washington Post Reported.
“This training saved our lives – I’m not exaggerating here,” Cohen wrote.
In courses over the past year, most recently on 22 August, Secure Community Network instructor Stuart Frisch said in an interview that he taught rabbis and temple members how to approach situations using the “run, hide, fight” method. How to react
Citron-Walker said she was taught that “if your life is at risk, you need to do whatever you can to safety, you need to do whatever you can to get out.” need.” It was in the last hour, when “it didn’t look good,” that he threw the chair. According to Cohen’s account, those who were held were close to the door, were within 20 feet of it and were able to escape.
“We survived,” he wrote. “We were not released or freed.”
Some members attributed the escape to their rabbi’s calm demeanor and quick thinking. Devora Titunic, a member for nearly 15 years, said she was not surprised by Citron-Walker’s handling of the impasse, adding, “If ever I was in such a position, the person I wanted to take on would be Rabbi Charlie.”
Video from Dallas TV station WFAA at the end of the standoff shows people running out of a synagogue door, and then a man holding a gun, opening and closing the same door seconds later. Moments later, several shots and then an explosion could be heard.
officials have refused Say who shot Akram, adding that it is still under investigation.
The investigation spread to England, where police in Manchester announced late Sunday that two juveniles were in custody in connection with the standoff. Greater Manchester Police tweeted that counter-terrorism officers had made the arrests, but did not say whether the pair had been charged.
President Joe Biden called the incident an act of terror. Speaking to reporters in Philadelphia on Sunday, Biden said Akram had allegedly bought a weapon on the streets.
Federal investigators believe Akram purchased the handgun used in the private sale to be used in hostage-taking, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation continues. A law enforcement official said Akram had arrived in the US at New York’s John F Kennedy International Airport about two weeks ago.
Akram arrived in the US on a tourist visa from Great Britain, according to a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information was not intended to be made public. London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement that its counter-terrorism police were contacting US officials about the incident.
Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel told the House of Commons on Monday she spoke to her US counterpart Alejandro Meyerkas and offered “full support” of the police and security services in Britain in the investigation.
According to the law enforcement official, Akram used his phone during the conversation to communicate with people other than law enforcement, who was not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation by name and on condition of anonymity. Had talked.
It was unclear why Akram chose the synagogue, although the prison where Siddiqui is serving his sentence is in Fort Worth.
A lawyer in Texas representing Siddiqui said on Monday that Siddiqui had nothing to do with Akram.
Attorney Marva Albiel said, “She said from the very beginning that when she was sentenced that she did not want any violence to be in her name and that she does not condone violence of any kind.”
Akram, who was called Faisal by his family, hailed from Blackburn, an industrial town in northwestern England. His family said he was suffering from “mental health issues.”
His brother Gulbar Akram wrote, “We would also like to add that any attack on any human being, whether he is a Jew, a Christian or a Muslim, etc. is wrong and should always be condemned.”
Community organizer Asif Mahmood, who has known the family for 30 years and visits the same mosque, said the family was devastated by what happened in Texas.
“He had mental health issues for many years,” Mahmood said. “The family obviously knew about it but no one thought he would potentially go and do something like this.”
Mohamed Khan, leader of the local government council in Blackburn, said the community promotes peace among all religions.
“We are a city where people from different backgrounds, cultures and religions are welcomed and it is a place where people come together and support each other,” Khan said in a statement.
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