US officials are negotiating with a gunman who took hostages at a Colleyville, Texas synagogue during a live-streamed celebration Saturday.
FBI agents, the American federal police, are responsible for negotiations that have lasted hours. Earlier, the Colleyville Police posted on Twitter that a Swat operation was underway on the block where Congregation Beth Israel is located and that residents in the area were being evicted, without providing further details.
There are no reports of injuries, according to the Dallas Morning News. Authorities have not provided much information about the situation at the synagogue, but Sergeant Dara Nelson said negotiators had made contact with someone inside the building they believed to be the suspect, according to the local publication.
The motivation is believed to be linked to the case of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who is serving an 86-year sentence in a US prison after being convicted in 2010 of shooting soldiers and FBI agents. He would ask for his freedom.
A US government official familiar with the situation, according to ABC News, even identified the suspect as the Pakistani’s brother, Muhammad Siddiqui, for referring to her as a sister, which may have been done figuratively. According to the Times of Israel, Siddiqui said, through his lawyer, that he was unhappy to have been linked to the case. Also according to the American broadcaster, the hostages would be the rabbi of the congregation and three other people.
The man can be heard on what appeared to be a phone call during a live stream of the celebration. Before the live ended, at 3 pm local time (18 pm in Brasilia), it was possible to hear the suspect talking about religion and his sister, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He repeatedly said he didn’t want to see anyone hurt and believed he would die.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted that President Joe Biden has already been briefed on the situation with the hostages in the Dallas area. “He will continue to receive updates from his team as the situation unfolds,” he wrote. “Senior members of the national security team are in contact with federal security forces.”
Also following the situation are Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, US Ambassador to the country Tom Nides and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who limited himself to saying that the Department of Public Safety is on site, working with teams. local and federal.
Barry Klompus, 63, a member of the congregation since it opened in 1999, told the Reuters news agency that he had been alerted to the situation by another member and quickly accessed the broadcast. “It was awful to watch and hear and it’s so much more awful not to know [o que acontece].”
Klompus reported not knowing that there had ever been any significant threat to the congregation. “We don’t have a security on staff, but we have what I would say is a very good relationship with the local police.”
Union for Reform Judaism President Rick Jacobs wrote on Twitter that the organization was “very grateful for the police forces that are working to free the hostages.”
.
