Why did the gunman, identified Sunday by the FBI as a 44-year-old British citizen named Malik Faisal Akram, choose a suburban synagogue to carry out his attack? Did he have support from suspects who have yet to be identified? What is his past? And what did he really hope to accomplish?
An FBI statement released Sunday said an Evidence Response Team will continue to process evidence at the synagogue and that the FBI’s North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force “will continue to follow investigative leads.”
President Joe Biden described the incident as an "act of terror"in comments on Sunday
Akram reportedly had only been in the United States a short time before the hostage incident but had been able to obtain weapons.
When asked about that, Biden said that "the assertion was he got the weapons on the street. He purchased them when he landed." The president said that while the suspect said he had bombs, "...it turns out there apparently were no bombs that we know of."
'Global reach'
Late Saturday, Matthew DeSarno, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, said that the investigation into the incident will have a “global reach.”
DeSarno said that FBI officials in Tel Aviv and London had been contacted.
“We obviously are investigating and we will continue to investigate the hostage-taker,” DeSarno said. “We will continue to investigate his contacts.”
The Daily Mail reported that two teen-agers had been arrested in Manchester, Great Britain, and were being "quizzed by police" late Sunday.
Police officers on Sunday continued to restrict access to the synagogue, maintaining a perimeter of roughly a quarter-mile. Law enforcement personnel also appeared to be searching through the area. Residents in the area had been evacuated from their homes during the hostage incident.
After the last hostages were released Saturday night, DeSarno had said at a press conference that he did not have “any information right now that indicates that this is part of any kind of ongoing threat.”
Why Akram chose to take hostages in a small suburban synagogue rather than at the place of worship for a larger congregation – or why he went to a synagogue at all – was one of the questions investigators apparently were exploring. One possible explanation for going to the Congregation Beth Israel: large congregationsoften have extensive security measures in place.
“We do believe from our engagement with this subject that he was singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community, but we are continuing to work to find motive and we will continue on that path,” DeSarno said late Saturday.
Possible motive?
On a livestream of the service that was later removed, Akram appeared to be angry over the imprisonment of a Pakistani women who’s an inmate at the federal prison in Fort Worth.
The prisoner, Aafia Siddiqui, 49, was convicted in 2010 on terrorism-related charges for shooting at American soldiers and got a lengthy sentence. Originally from Pakistan, Siddiqui was educated in the United States, where she obtained degrees in biology and neuroscience. She was linked by law enforcement officials to al-Qaeda.
Her supporters have alleged she was wrongly convicted and Pakistani government officials have sought her release.
Officials with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) decried Saturday's attackand said Akram had nothing to do with Siddiqui.
"This antisemitic attack against a house of worship is unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community..." said John Floyd, serves as legal counsel for Siddiqui's brother and is the board chairman for CAIR-Houston. "...This assailant has nothing to do with Dr. Aaifia, her family, or the global campaign to get justice for Dr. Aafia."
Biden alluded to Siddiqui in his comments on Sunday.
"I don't think there is sufficient information to know about why he targeted that synagogue or why he insisted on the release of someone who's been in prison for 10 years... why he was using antisemitic and anti-Israeli comments... " Biden said. "We just don't have enough facts."
Law enforcement's response
The hostage crisis began late Saturday morning. That’s when Akram took Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and three members of his congregation hostage during a service, according to law enforcement officials.
Colleyville Police Chief Michael Miller said late Saturday that about 200 law enforcement personnel responded to the hostage incident and were “here pretty much all day.” That included police officers from surrounding cities, the DPS and federal law enforcement agents.
“We couldn’t have done it without them,” Miller said.
Hostage negotiators made contact with Akram. Agents reportedly provided food and water to Akram Saturday evening, after one of the hostages was released.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted on his personal Twitter account that the hostages were safe at about 9:30 Saturday night, just minutes after loud bangs were reported at the scene.
The hostage incident ended with Akram's death and the rescue of the remaining three hostages. A WFAA-TV (Channel 8) photographer captured the final moments of the hostage crisis on video.
Few details about Akram have been made public by law enforcement officials in the Dallas area.
“There’s a lot of information out there already about the subject and we really don’t want to jeopardize any potential investigation or any investigative leads into his motives or his potential associates,” DeSarno had cautioned Saturday night.
A Facebook page for the Blackburn Muslim Community included a message purporting to be from Gulbar Akram, who identified himself as the suspect's brother. Gulbar Akram wrote that the family did not condone his actions and apologized to the victims involved in the incident. The post, which later was removed, stated that Akram suffered from mental health issues. Blackburn is in the industrial heart of England, northeast of Liverpool.
Gulbar Akram wrote that he had been in touch with the FBI during the standoff at Congregation Beth Israel. He said he was convinced his brother would not harm the hostages but also that "there was nothing we could have said to him or done that would have convinced him to surrender."
"Any attack on any human being," Gulbar Akram wrote, "be it a Jew, Christian or Muslim...is wrong and should always ben condemned."
Mohammed Khan, Leader of the Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, wrote in a post on the Blackburn Muslim Community page saying, "Our thoughts are with everybody affected."
"In Blackburn we firmly stand by the belief that no community should live in fear for its safety as they go about practicing their religious beliefs or identity," he continued. "We stand in solidarity in condemning this act of hate, violence and terror."
'Grateful to be alive'
In a statement on Sunday, Cytron-Walker talked about training that helped the hostages survive the ordeal and provided additional details about what happened.
“Over the years, my congregation and I have participated in multiple security courses from the Colleyville Police Department, the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League, and Secure Community Network,” Cytron-Walker said. “We are alive today because of that education."
The situation for the hostages had become more dire as time went on.
“In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening,” Cytron-Walker said. “Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself."
Cytron-Walker posted a note on Facebook Sunday thanking people for their vigils and prayers, as well as law enforcement for their efforts.
“I am grateful for my family,” he wrote. “I am grateful for the CBI Community, the Jewish Community, the Human Community. I am grateful that we made it out. I am grateful to be alive.”
Got a tip? Email Solomon Wilson at swilson@kera.org. You can follow Solomon on Twitter @SolomonSeesIt.
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