Hostages talk about what happened while held captive inside Colleyville synagogue for 11 hours

A Colleyville rabbi held captive this weekend for more than 11 hours inside Congregation Beth Israel said Monday that he and two others escaped after he threw a chair at the hostage-taker.

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said on CBS Mornings he let the hostage-taker inside the synagogue Saturday because the man appeared to need shelter. The gunman had knocked on a glass door and Cytron-Walker took him in and made the 44-year-old British national a cup of tea, the rabbi said.

“When I took him in, I stayed with him,” Cytron-Walker told CBS Mornings. “Making tea was an opportunity to talk with him. In that moment, I didn’t hear anything suspicious. ... It was during prayer — while we’re praying — and my back was turned. We face toward Jerusalem while we pray. Right before he revealed himself… I heard a click. And it could have been anything, and it turned out it was his gun.”

Cytron-Walker and another hostage, Jeffrey R. Cohen, revealed new details Monday about what happened inside the synagogue during the 11 hours after suspected hostage-taker Malik Faisal Akram entered the building and demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman serving an 86-year sentence for shooting at two U.S. military officers during an interrogation.

Cohen posted on Facebook that the hostages fled shortly after the gunman ordered them on their knees. Cohen said that they weren’t released or freed — they escaped by relying on active-shooter training. He said fighting back wasn’t an option because it meant getting closer to the attacker armed with a gun. Even so, he said he’d mentally prepared himself to use his prayer shawl around the hostage-taker’s neck or hand that was holding the gun.

“I figured we had few options and little chance of survival,” Cohen said.

‘Unmistakable sound’

Cohen said that he entered the synagogue Saturday and introduced himself to the attacker, who was on the phone but said hello and smiled. Cohen wrote that the man “seemed calm and happy” to be out of the cold.

“His eyes weren’t darting around; his hands were open and calm, he said hello, he smiled,” Cohen said.

Cohen said he sat down later during the service, and he “heard that unmistakable sound of an automatic slide engaging a round.”

The synagogue was holding its Shabbat service, which began at 10 a.m., when the man took the rabbi and three others hostage. The service was streamed live on Facebook, and a man could be heard speaking. At times the man sounded angry and said he was going to die.

Cohen said he called 911 and put his phone facing down on a chair as he followed most of what the attacker commanded. He said he stayed in line with one of the exits instead of going to the back of the room.

A police officer came to the door, Cohen said, and the attacker grew agitated and instructed the four hostages to sit down.

Nearly 200 law enforcement officials responded to the synagogue and tried to negotiate with the gunman throughout the day. One hostage was released earlier. Shortly after 5 p.m., authorities were seen bringing a man wearing a black yarmulke out of the building.

Cohen said he tried to remain calm and deliberate, and didn’t raise his own voice or make a quick move during the 11 hours of the standoff.

He said the man let them call their families. Cohen called his wife, daughter and son while thinking he was most likely going to die. He said he moved chairs in front of him in case they could divert a bullet or shrapnel.

The hostages stayed within 20 feet from the exit door, which “proved critical for our escape,” Cohen said.

He said the hostages kept the gunman engaged, and the man lectured them and stayed somewhat calm while talking. Things began to devolve closer to their escape, Cohen said.

He said the attacker told them to get on their knees and Cohen reared up and “stared at him sternly” while mouthing “no.”

Cytron-Walker said that toward the last hour of the standoff, the hostage-taker “wasn’t getting what he wanted.” And when Cytron-Walker saw an opportunity, he instructed the other two men held hostage to bolt for an exit while he threw a chair at the gunman.

The three lunged toward the door just after 9:30 p.m..

Video from WFAA-TV (Channel 8) showed people running out a door of the synagogue, and then a man holding a gun opened the same door seconds later before he turned around and closed it. Moments later, several rounds of gunfire could be heard, followed by the sound of an explosion.

“Going out the door, I stumbled hitting the ground hard,” Cohen wrote. “I heard our attacker open the door. I was on the ground without my glasses, my plan became getting through the hedge line. In all honesty, I thought I was further under than I was. In fact, I was quite exposed.”

Cohen said he heard the door close and an officer yell, and he got up and ran to safety.

“It is not like the movies,” Cohen said. “Movies are scripted. Everyone knows exactly what every other actor will do. It is not surreal. On the contrary, it is quite real and realistic.”

NBC News, citing a senior law enforcement official, reported Monday that Akram was shot by the FBI’s hostage rescue team. Officials have declined to clarify publicly how Akram died. The FBI’s Dallas office did not respond to a request for comment Monday night.

‘Completely overwhelming’

On Monday, Cytron-Walker said he was still trying to process what happened.

“It was terrifying, it was overwhelming and we’re still processing,” Cytron-Walker said. “It’s been a lot. It’s completely overwhelming.”

Cytron-Walker attributed his calm demeanor during the ordeal to his rabbinical and clergy training.

“We talk a lot about being a calm, nonanxious presence,” the rabbi said. “We do that in hospital rooms, we do that during the most difficult of individual moments and I did the best that I could to do that throughout the standoff.”

The investigation

The FBI said in a written statement late Sunday that the Colleyville standoff was being investigated as a terrorism-related matter in which the Jewish community was targeted. The FBI cited the repeated demands Akram made during the standoff for the release of Siddiqui. Siddiqui’s lawyer, Marwa Elbially, has said that his client condemns Akram’s actions, and “unequivocally condemns all forms of violence.”

The FBI’s statement marked the first time the federal investigators had officially attributed the standoff to terrorism. Matthew DeSarno, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, had previously said after the standoff that the hostage-taker was “singularly focused on one issue” that was not related to the Jewish community.

Some officials, including President Joe Biden, had already called the incident an act of terror. Biden has said that the hostage-taker was armed with a gun that he is alleged to have bought off the street.

The federal bureau said its Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the matter, adding that authorities “never lose sight of the threat extremists pose to the Jewish community and to other religious, racial, and ethnic groups.” The FBI declined to release any additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.

“All of us at the FBI are relieved the hostage situation in Colleyville, Texas, was resolved without physical injury to those taken hostage,” the statement said.

The president said the hostage-taker spent time in Texas at a homeless shelter, and speculated that he might have gotten a gun there.

The investigation stretched into England on Sunday when Greater Manchester police said they detained two teenagers in connection with the Colleyville incident. The two teens were Akram’s sons who were in touch with him during the standoff Saturday, MSNBC reported.

Greater Manchester police declined to release additional details “due to the UK’s stringent Contempt of Court legislation.”

The FBI had said earlier Sunday that Akram appeared to be the sole suspect. British law gives police wide latitude to make arrests during a terrorism investigation, and diplomats counseled against drawing any conclusions about the two teens.

Vigil

At least a thousand people filled the lower sanctuary of the White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake Monday evening for a service of resilience and healing led by Cytron-Walker.

The service was also streamed live on social media for those who could not attend in person. Cytron-Walker thanked law enforcement, first responders and interfaith and political leaders for their support following Saturday’s incident. He also praised the Congregation Beth Israel members and the three other hostages who were in the sanctuary with him Saturday.

“Somehow together, we made it through that traumatic ordeal,” he said.

Cytron-Walker did not identify the other three people who were held hostage. Speakers at the hourlong service focused on words and songs of love, compassion and healing through hatred.

Cytron-Walker noted that he has spoken at several vigil-like services, but Monday’s was a rare exception because it was not a service of mourning.

“Tonight we will not be saying our traditional prayer for mourning... thank God,” he said.

Near the end of the service, Cytron-Walker encouraged all in attendance to recite a “community affirmation” about taking a stand against bigotry and violence.

For his congregation, Cytron-Walker said he wished he could take the entire day away. But instead, he hopes that they can move forward.

“We know how special it is that our broader community and that our broader world desperately wants to support us on this journey,” he said. “It will take time, and slowly we will heal together.”

Staff writer Nataly Keomoungkhoun contributed to this report.