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| Suspect dead after FBI storm Texas synagogue, freeing hostages | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Hostage taker reportedly demanded the release of a Pakistani woman convicted of attempting to kill US military personnel | Hostage taker reportedly demanded the release of a Pakistani woman convicted of attempting to kill US military personnel |
| All four people who were held hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas on Saturday were "alive" and "safe," the authorities said as media reported gunfire and sounds resembling that of an explosion at the scene. | All four people who were held hostage at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas on Saturday were "alive" and "safe," the authorities said as media reported gunfire and sounds resembling that of an explosion at the scene. |
| Though one male hostage had been released unharmed earlier on Saturday, the three remaining hostages were not able to leave until an FBI hostage rescue team which flew in from Quantico, Virginia stormed the building. | |
| Shortly after CNN reported that "a loud bang, followed by a short blast of rapid gunfire" came from the synagogue, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that all of the hostages were now "out alive and safe." | Shortly after CNN reported that "a loud bang, followed by a short blast of rapid gunfire" came from the synagogue, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that all of the hostages were now "out alive and safe." |
| The suspect, who has still not been identified, at one point had threatened to kill the hostages if anyone entered the building. However, he also reportedly said that he did not want to hurt anyone, and subsequently let one of the hostages escape unscathed. | |
| His negotiations with law enforcement were partially broadcast live on Facebook. | |
| Several US media outlets, including ABC News and NBC News, reported that the man referenced Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist serving an 86-year sentence in the US in his talks with the negotiators. The man apparently referred to the woman as his “sister. However, the lawyer for her bilogical brother - Muhammad Siddiqui - told the US media that he had nothing to do with the incident. | |
| Moreover, an attorney representing Aafia Siddiqui later confirmed that the suspect was not her client's brother, and claimed that the woman herself did not endorse the act. | |
| "We strongly condemn the hostage-taking at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, TX…Whoever the assailant is, we want him to know that his actions are condemned by Dr. Aafia and her family,” attorney Marwa Elbially told CNN in a statement on Saturday. | |
| Siddiqui had been arrested in 2008 after her botched interrogation by the US military in Afghanistan. The woman was initially detained by the Afghan forces after they reportedly found a note on her mentioning a “mass casualty attack” along with the list of several key US locations. Just as her interrogation was about to start, Siddiqui reportedly grabbed a rifle of one of the US soldiers and attempted to fire it at a team of US investigators. Although the woman missed the target, and was ultimately shot in the stomach by a US soldier, she was extradited to the US on charges of attempting to murder US nationals in Afganistan. | |
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