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What it was like inside the Colleyville, Texas, synagogue during the 11-hour hostage standoff - CNN
Jan 17, 2022 3 mins, 42 secs
Families of the Reform Jewish synagogue just outside Dallas-Fort Worth had gathered -- in person and online -- to participate in the Sabbath service, even amid the twin perils of a fresh pandemic wave and a swelling tide of attacks on Jewish people in the United States.

By day's end, the community of faith in Colleyville, Texas, would be at the center of a global drama involving a livestreamed hostage-taking, an imprisoned terrorist icon, an elite FBI rescue team, a rabbi's quick thinking and a final, frantic sprint to freedom.

More details may yet offer a deeper understanding of why it happened.

But already, the tale is one of searing trauma, with the broader American Jewish community now again forced to be resilient as it's reminded of the ever-present potential for disaster.

A rabbi welcomes a stranger

A stranger arrived that morning at the synagogue.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker welcomed in the man and made him a cup of tea, the rabbi told CBS on Monday.

He was very quiet and wasn't there long enough to build any relationships, Butler said.

Over their shared tea, Cytron-Walker and Akram talked, the rabbi said.

"Some of his story didn't quite add up, so I was a little bit curious, but that's not necessarily an uncommon thing," said the rabbi, who soon that day would lead a religious service for the 157 membership families of his congregation, established in 1999.

The rabbi pointed Jeffrey Cohen, the vice president on the synagogue's board of trustees, to their guest that day.

Cohen went over and introduced himself, he wrote in a Facebook post describing his experience.

"He was on the phone, but briefly stopped his conversation," Cohen said.

Cohen dialed 911 on his phone, put the screen side down and moved as commanded, he wrote.

Akram took four people hostage, including the rabbi, authorities said.

'I'm going to die at the end of this'

Police got an emergency call at 10:41 a.m.

She was not involved in the Colleyville attack, her attorney said Saturday.

Inside the synagogue, Cohen resisted following exactly as Akram commanded, he wrote in his Facebook post.

When a police officer came to the door and the hostage-taker became more agitated, Cohen moved closer to the exit door, he wrote.

Akram let them call their families, and Cohen called his wife, daughter and son and even posted on Facebook.

He also slowly moved a few chairs in front of him -- "anything to slow or divert a bullet or shrapnel," he wrote.

At one point -- at the suspect's request -- the rabbi being held hostage called a well-known rabbi in New York City so the suspect could say Siddiqi was framed and he wanted her released, two officials briefed on investigation said.

But, he added, they were threatened the entire time.

A thrown chair activates a bold escape

With threats and attacks targeting Jewish people growing more common in recent years, Cytron-Walker and his congregation had participated in security courses with law enforcement agencies, he said.

"In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening," Cytron-Walker said Sunday in a statement.

It was this moment when Rabbi Charlie yelled run," he wrote.

The rabbi said he threw a chair at the hostage-taker to buy time.

"We were terrified," Cytron-Walker told CBS.

Other armed law enforcement personnel moved into a different position by the building, and another three loud bangs then went off, the video shows.

The loud boom, heard by a CNN team near the synagogue at about 9:12 p.m., was the result of entry tools used by the hostage rescue team, an ATF spokesperson told CNN.

The rescue team breached the synagogue, Miller said.

"We escaped because we had training from the Secure Community Network on what to do in the event of an active shooter."

The Secure Community Network describes itself as the, "official safety and security organization of the Jewish community in North America."

'The time to heal our community has begun'

On Sunday morning, Cytron-Walker took to Facebook, this time to express his gratitude to those who supported him throughout Saturday's ordeal.

The investigation into the case and its motive is likely to be global, DeSarno added, including contacts with Tel Aviv and London.

Initially, the FBI, based on its exchanges, found the suspect to be "singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community, but we'll continue to work to find motive," DeSarno said.

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