365NEWSX
365NEWSX
Subscribe

Welcome

Gunman in Texas synagogue standoff was known to UK security services, official says - CNN

Gunman in Texas synagogue standoff was known to UK security services, official says - CNN

Gunman in Texas synagogue standoff was known to UK security services, official says - CNN
Jan 18, 2022 2 mins, 6 secs

The investigation against Malik Faisal Akram was closed when investigators considered him to no longer be a threat, the official said.

Details about what led to that UK probe weren't immediately available.

US authorities say Akram, 44, entered Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, and produced a weapon during its Sabbath service on Saturday morning, kicking off an 11-hour standoff with local, state and federal authorities.

Akram suffered from mental health issues, the statement said without elaborating.

Rabbi 'overflowing with gratitude'

At a healing service Monday night at a United Methodist church, the rabbi who was among the four taken hostage described his emotions about his escape with a quavering voice.

The enormity of the ordeal in Colleyville -- being held at gunpoint for hours and making a bold but terrifying escape -- is difficult to process, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said, but a wave of support from his community and the others around the world left him optimistic that his congregation will recover.

"I'm so grateful, so unbelievably grateful, tonight -- unlike every other service like this that I have done -- we will not be saying our traditional prayer for mourning," Cytron-Walker told a crowd gathered at a healing service at White's Chapel United Methodist Church and thousands of supporters watching a livestream of the event.

Saturday's attack "could have been so much worse, and I am overflowing, truly overflowing with gratitude," Cytron-Walker said Monday.

Members of the congregation who were held hostage credited security courses, including active shooter training, with helping them get through the ordeal.

"At any moment, I thought there was going to be a gunshot," Stacey Silverman, a member of Congregation Beth Israel, told CNN of watching the livestream, which had been set up so people could watch services from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Watching the incident unfold left Silverman "terrified and heartbroken," she said.

Hostages describe how they made their escape

The hostage-taker was "screaming hysterically" at times and occasionally speaking different languages, Silverman said.

As the hours ticked by, he "became increasingly belligerent and threatening," Cytron-Walker has said.

When the gunman began yelling and congregants realized they were hostages, Cohen said he quickly dialed 911, put the phone face down, and followed the hostage taker's directions.

"But not exactly as commanded," he said on Facebook.

I want to talk to the chief rabbi of the United States,'" Cohen told CNN on Monday.

"I wish I had a magic wand.

I wish I could take away all of our pain and struggle," Cytron-Walker said at the healing service.

Summarized by 365NEWSX ROBOTS

RECENT NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Get monthly updates and free resources.

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2024 365NEWSX - All RIGHTS RESERVED