As F.B.I. Breached Texas Synagogue, Hostages Were Dashing for Exit - The New York Times

The federal agency said it was unaware that three hostages were already escaping the temple as an elite rescue team entered from different sides, killing the attacker.

“He was giving ultimatums and deadlines about killing hostages,” Matthew DeSarno, the bureau’s top agent in Dallas, said in an interview on Friday.

DeSarno decided to launch the F.B.I.’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, which had arrived from Quantico, Va.

Inside the synagogue, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker had come to a similar conclusion: It was time to take action.

On Friday, Rabbi Cytron-Walker described looking for an opportunity to flee as night fell with three hostages remaining; one had been released around 5 p.m.

DeSarno, a veteran counterterrorism investigator, said he had never ordered a hostage rescue before.

DeSarno said the hostage teams breached the south and west sides of the temple as the hostages exited the northeast side.

The medical examiner said on Friday that Mr.

DeSarno said during a news conference on Friday that it appeared Mr.

Wray, the bureau’s director, said on Thursday that the F.B.I.

Akram believed “she was the most influential rabbi,” the rabbi said on Thursday in a webinar hosted by the Anti-Defamation League.

In New York, Mayor Eric Adams was scheduled to speak at Friday evening services at Central Synagogue, where Rabbi Buchdahl presides

And in Colleyville, Rabbi Cytron-Walker planned to conduct services for his congregation on Friday and Saturday