A 44-year-old British man has been identified as the suspect who took four people hostage in a Texas synagogue on Saturday.
Malik Faisal Akram, 44, died in a “shooting incident” after an hours-long standoff with police at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, authorities said. The hostages were rescued unharmed when FBI agents entered the synagogue around 9 p.m. local time Saturday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether agents or the suspect himself fired the shot that killed him.
On Sunday, the FBI for the first time identified Akram and said they believed he had acted alone.
“The FBI’s Evidence Response Team (ERT) will continue processing evidence at the synagogue. At this time, there is no indication that other individuals are involved,” the FBI said in a statement. “The FBI’s North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force (NTJTTF), which includes member agencies from across the region, will continue to follow investigative leads.”
A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign Office told BuzzFeed News in a statement, “We are aware of the death of a British man in Texas and are in contact with the local authorities.”
Investigation is continuing about Akram’s motive. On Saturday, FBI Dallas special agent in charge Matthew DeSarno said in a press conference that authorities did not believe there was an ongoing threat after Akram’s death.
“We obviously are investigating. We will continue to investigate the hostage taker, we will continue to investigate his contacts. Our investigation will have global reach,” DeSarno said.
“We do believe from our engagement with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community but we will continue to work to find motive.”
Multiple news outlets on Saturday reported that authorities believe Akram was seeking the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a neuroscientist who was convicted of attempting to kill US soldiers and FBI agents and is currently serving an 86-year sentence at a nearby federal prison. According to US intelligence, she was suspected of being associated with al-Qaeda.
When asked about the hostage situation on Sunday, President Biden told reporters, “This was an act of terror.”
The president said it remains unknown why the Colleyville synagogue was targeted, but he added he had spoken with the rabbi and is also working with the attorney general to “address these types of acts.”
Biden told pool reporters that while he didn’t have all the facts about the incident, he believed the hostage taker obtained a gun by buying it “on the street.” Biden also suggested Akram had spent a night in a homeless shelter before taking hostages on Saturday.
“Guns are — the idea of background checks are critical but you can’t stop someone from buying something on the street,” Biden said.
In Saturday’s press conference, DeSarno said the negotiator who was in touch with Akram during the hostage situation had a “high frequency and duration of contact with him” for 10 hours, adding that the relationship between the two “ebbed and flowed a little bit and sometimes got intense.” DeSarno also said there will be independent investigations into how Akram died, which he said was standard operating procedure.
Liz Truss, the UK’s foreign secretary, tweeted on Sunday, “My thoughts are with the Jewish community and all those affected by the appalling act in Texas. We condemn this act of terrorism and anti-semitism. We stand with US in defending the rights and freedoms of our citizens against those who spread hate.”
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/british-akram-texas-synagogue-hostages
