- Four hostages were taken at Congregation Beth Israel during morning services on Saturday
- One hostage has been released, but the hostage-taker is calling for the release of Aafia Siddiqui
- Siddiqui was sentenced in 2010 to 86 years in prison for attempted murder and assault
Multiple law enforcement agencies responded Saturday to a Texas synagogue in what the White House called a “developing hostage situation.”
Authorities were negotiating with a man inside and one male hostage was released uninjured Saturday evening, according to Colleyville Police Department Sgt. Dara Nelson. The man does not require medical attention, Nelson added.
No injuries have been reported in the incident, according to Colleyville Police Department.
The hostage-taker is calling for the release oof Aafia Siddiqui, who was sentenced in 2010 to 86 years in prison for the attempted murder and assault of U.S. nationals and U.S. officers and employees in Afghanistan, a law enforcement official said. Siddiqui is in federal prison in Forth Worth, Texas. The relationship between the hostage taker and the prisoner is unclear, said the official who is not authorized to comment publicly. A rabbi and three others were among the hostages.
The Colleyville Police department said Saturday evening the situation remains “an active operational and investigative scene.”
Shortly after 5 p.m. Eastern, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted President Joe Biden was briefed about the “developing hostage situation in the Dallas area.”
“He will continue to receive updates from his senior team as the situation develops,” Psaki tweeted. “Senior members of the national security team are also in touch with federal law enforcement leadership.”
For a time the situation was livestreamed on the synagogue’s Facebook page. The livestream cut out around 2:50 p.m. Eastern and was unavailable after it was stopped.
It is unclear if the person inside the synagogue is armed.
The FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety’s highway patrol and criminal investigations division are also at the scene, Texas DPS Sgt. Josue De La Cerda told USA TODAY.
FBI Dallas spokeswoman Katie Chaumont told the Associated Press an FBI SWAT team was also at the scene and that crisis negotiators had been communicating with someone inside the synagogue. But she could not say whether the person was armed and she declined to describe what the person had said to authorities, citing operational sensitivity.
“It’s an evolving situation, and we have a lot of law enforcement personnel on scene,” Chaumont told the outlet.
The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tweeted they were “assisting” Dallas FBI and local authorities.
Saturday morning’s service was livestreamed on Facebook prior to the hostage situation. The livestream captured audio of a voice yelling inside the synagogue. Video captured by the livestream didn’t appear to show what was going on off-camera.
“We removed the video from the synagogue’s page, and will also remove content praising or supporting this incident,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY. “We are in contact with law enforcement as the situation continues to evolve.”
The Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said they condemned Saturday’s incident.
“This antisemitic attack against a house of worship is unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community, and we pray that law enforcement authorities are able to swiftly free the hostages and bring them to safety,” the group’s statement said.
The Colleyville Police Department tweeted residents in the immediate area are being evacuated, and people are asked to avoid the area. Colleyville, a community of about 26,000 people, is about 15 miles northeast of Fort Worth and 25 miles northwest of Dallas.
The Anti-Defamation League tweeted Saturday afternoon that it “is aware of the ongoing situation in Colleyville, TX and is engaged with local and federal authorities and the community’s leaders.”
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is “deploying additional patrols” to synagogues and other sites “as a precaution,” he tweeted Saturday afternoon. In San Antonio, Texas, police said they will “monitor for any possible local threats.” Beverly Hills, California, police said out of an abundance of caution, they “will be increasing patrols around our Jewish houses of worship.”
Who is Aafia Siddiqui
According to an indictment filed in Manhattan federal court, Siddiqui was detained in 2008 by Afghan authorities, who found a number of items in her possession, including handwritten notes that referred to a “mass casualty attack” and that listed various locations in the United States, including the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Other notes in Siddiqui’s possession referred to the construction of “dirty bombs,” and discussed various ways to attack “enemies,” including by destroying reconnaissance drones, using underwater bombs, and deploying gliders, according to federal prosecutors.
When U.S. officials attempted to interview Siddiqui in Ghazni, Afghanistan, she grabbed a U.S. Army officer’s M-4 rifle and fired it at another U.S. Army officer and other members of the U.S. interview team. During the shooting, Siddiqui exclaimed her intent and desire to kill Americans.
Contributing: The Associated Press.