Breaking: All Hostages Out Alive From Synagogue

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

COLLEYVILLE (Worthy News) – All hostages in a synagogue near Dallas in the U.S. state of Texas are “out alive and safe,” said Governor Greg Abbott late Saturday.

The Texas governor announced on social networking site Twitter after a loud boom and what sounded like gunshots erupted from the area. “Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe,” Abbot wrote.

Police had been in a standoff with a hostage-taker for much of Saturday.

The confrontation began during Saturday services at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, a suburb of Fort Worth and Dallas, witnesses said.

Police were called about 11 a.m. local time after a man captured four people, including the rabbi, police said. One man was released uninjured shortly after 5 p.m.

U.S. officials said they were still investigating a precise motive for the attack. The hostage-taker was heard demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to terror group al-Qaida.

He also said he wanted to speak with her, according to the officials. Siddiqui is in federal prison in Texas.

A rabbi in New York City reportedly received a call from the rabbi believed to be held hostage in the synagogue to demand Siddiqui’s release, a law enforcement official said. The New York rabbi then called 911.

Following Saturday’s incident, police departments in several American cities, including New York and Los Angeles, said they were stepping up patrols at synagogues and other locations associated with the Jewish community.

The Dallas Police Department is deploying additional patrols to city synagogues and other sites “as a precaution,” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said on Twitter Saturday.

“Police are working with the Jewish Federation and our local, state, and federal partners to monitor any concerns or threats based on the situation in Colleyville,” he added.

The attack underscored concerns about security around synagogues following previous anti-Semitic incidents.

One of the worst attacks against a synagogue in recent U.S. history came on October 27, 2018, when a man shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire inside a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 11 congregants. He also wounded four police officers and two others, the authorities said.

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