Authorities have identified a 44-year-old British national as the man who took four people hostage at a Texas synagogue for 10 hours before an FBI SWAT team stormed the building, ending a tense standoff that President Joe Biden called “an act of terror.”
The four people were taken hostage for about 10 hours at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville. Services at the synagogue were being livestreamed on Facebook at the time.
The suspect had demanded the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan.
The first of the hostages were released at about 5 p.m. local time. That person was expected to be reunited with his family soon and did not require medical attention.
The three other hostages were released at around 9:30 p.m. local time when a SWAT team entered the building. Authorities later said that the suspect was killed.
That suspect was identified Sunday as Malik Faisal Akram
The FBI says there’s no immediate indication the man had connections to any broader plan but that the agency’s investigation “will have global reach.”
