British National ID'd As Hostage-Taker At Texas Synagogue

COLLEYVILLE, TX — Authorities identified a 44-year-old British national as the man who held four people hostage for over 12 hours in a Texas synagogue Saturday before an FBI SWAT team entered the building and ended the standoff.

Malik Faisal Akram was shot and killed Saturday night, ending the hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville. None of the hostages were injured, according to authorities.

Video from Dallas TV station WFAA shows people running out a door of the synagogue, and then a man holding a gun opening the same door just seconds later, before he turns around and closes the door. Moments later, several rounds of gunfire can be heard, followed by the sound of an explosion, AP reported.

The Associated Press reported worshipers who heard the livestream said the hostage-taker demanded the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al-Qaida who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. military officers while in custody in Afghanistan, one of the law enforcement officials said.

Siddiqui, known as "Lady al-Qaida," is serving an 86-year sentence at a federal prison in Fort Worth, which is about 15 miles from Colleyville. She is described as a cult figure among extremists, who have demanded her release from prison for years. Pakistan officials have publicly said they're interested in a deal or prisoner swap, the AP reported.

President Joe Biden called the hostage situation "an act of terror" during a visit to a Philadelphia food pantry Sunday morning.

“Rest assured, we are focused,” Biden said. “The attorney general is focused and making sure that we deal with these kinds of acts.”

Vice President Kamala Harris expressed gratitude that the hostages made it home safely and thanked law enforcement in a statement released Sunday.

"We must speak up and combat antisemitism and hate wherever it exists," Harris said. "Everyone has a right to pray, work, study, and spend time with loved ones not as the other — but as us."