Texas rabbi says he, 2 hostages escaped synagogue standoff

By JAMIE STENGLE, JAKE BLEIBERG and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press

COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — The rabbi of a Texas synagogue where a gunman took hostages during livestreamed services says he threw a chair at his captor before escaping with two others after an hourslong standoff. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told “CBS Mornings” on Monday that he let the gunman inside the synagogue in Colleyville on Saturday because he appeared to need shelter. He says the man was not threatening or suspicious at first. Later, he heard a gun click as he was praying. Authorities identified the hostage-taker as 44-year-old British national Malik Faisal Akram. He was killed Saturday night after the last hostages ran out of Congregation Beth Israel around 9 p.m. The FBI on Sunday night issued a statement calling the ordeal “a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted.”