2022 Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis
2022 hostage situation in Texas
The Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis was a 2022 incident where a 44-year-old man armed with a pistol took four people hostage in a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, United States.
The incident occurred on January 15, 2022, when Malik Akram, a British Pakistani man, entered the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue during a Sabbath service. Hostage negotiations ensued, during which Akram demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani national and alleged al-Qaeda operative imprisoned in nearby Fort Worth for attempted murder and other crimes. He released one hostage after six hours, and the remaining three hostages escaped eleven hours into the standoff. Tactical officers from the FBI Hostage Rescue Team subsequently entered the synagogue and fatally shot Akram.
Background
Congregation Beth Israel
Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, a suburb 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Fort Worth in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The congregation was initially a chavurah established in 1999 with 25 families; a religious school with 75 children was founded shortly afterward. After in its early years holding its services at rented facilities, Congregation Beth Israel opened a synagogue of its own in 2004. The congregation is smaller than other Jewish congregations in the area; at the time of the incident, the congregation had around 140 members. The synagogue's rabbi at the time of the crisis was Charlie Cytron-Walker, originally from Lansing, Michigan.
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