Live Updates: SWAT Team Responds to Hostage Situation at Dallas-Fort Worth Area Synagogue
On a webcast of a service, a guy could be heard yelling at others inside. Officials refused to provide any further information.
Authorities said heavily armed police officers and F.B.I. negotiators were dispatched to a hostage situation at a synagogue in the Dallas-Fort Worth region on Saturday, where a man inside could be heard ranting on a livestream.
President Biden was updated on "the unfolding hostage situation" at Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, roughly 15 miles northeast of Fort Worth, according to Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary.
"As the situation unfolds, he will continue to get briefings from his senior staff," Ms. Psaki wrote on Twitter. "Senior members of the national security team also communicate with federal law enforcement officials."
The Texas Department of Public Safety was also on the scene of the "tense hostage situation," according to Gov. Greg Abbott.
Mr. Abbott stated, "They are working with local and federal teams to get the greatest and safest conclusion."
The individual inside the synagogue was taking four people hostage, including a rabbi, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. There had been no reports of injuries.
Residents in the area have been evacuated, according to F.B.I. spokeswoman Katie Chaumont. She wouldn't specify whether the man was armed or not.
The congregation had been holding a scheduled Sabbath service at 10 a.m. It was being live streamed on its Facebook page.
A guy could be heard ranting about dying and not like police officers on the livestream, however the context was unclear due to the stream's inaudibility at moments. The streaming footage did not show what was happening inside the synagogue.
Before the broadcast ended, the man could also be heard asking for his sister's phone number.
“It’s a deal,” he said at one point. “It’s a deal I had with you.”
Naftali Bennett, Israel's prime minister, said he was "closely observing" the situation.
“We pray for the safety of the hostages and rescuers,” Mr. Bennett said on Twitter.
On Twitter, Craig Goldman, a Texas state representative, stated, "Please join me in prayer for the safety of Rabbi Charlie and all the worshippers at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville."
Texas Representative Colin Allred said he was praying for the Colleyville congregation.
“No one should have to fear something like this may happen in their place of worship,” he said on Twitter.
After assaults like the one that murdered a woman at a synagogue in Poway, Calif., in 2019, and another that killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018, the security measures were spurred by the imminent prospect of antisemitic violence.
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