THE man who took four hostages captive at a Texas synagogue has been identified by the FBI as British citizen Malik Faisal Akram.
The deceased suspect kept members of the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville captive for almost 12 hours after storming the temple and demanding to speak to convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui.
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At this time, FBI officials believe that Akram, 44, acted alone, according to Special Agent in Charge Mathhew DeSarno of the FBI Dallas Field Office.
The FBI’s Evidence Response Team (ERT) is still processing evidence in the investigation at the synagogue.
Late on Saturday night, Texas Governor Greg Abbott confirmed that all four people that had been held hostage were taken out of the synagogue “alive and safe.”
The FBI confirmed that the man who took the hostages was killed after loud bangs and gunfire were heard inside the building.
The incident was extraordinarily captured on the synagogue’s livestream, with the captor demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill US army officers in Afghanistan.
The Lancashire Telegraph reported that the suspect’s brother, Gulbar, confirmed Akram’s death and condemned the hostage situation in a statement.
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“It is with great great sadness I will confirm my brother Faisal passed away in Texas, USA this morning,” the statement says.
“We are absolutely devastated as a family. We can’t say much now as [there] is an ongoing FBI investigation.
“We would like to say that we as a family do not condone any of his actions and would like to sincerely apologise wholeheartedly to all the victims involved in the unfortunate incident.”
The statement goes on to say that the suspect “was suffering from mental health issues,” but the family was certain he would not harm the hostages.
The family went on to condemn any act of violence based on religion.
“We would also like to add that any attack on any human being be it a Jew, Christian or Muslim is wrong and should always be condemned.”
In a press conference on Saturday night, the FBI said that the suspect seemed to be “singularly focused on one issue and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community.”
Authorities are still trying to establish the significance of his cries regarding Siddiqui.
Aafia Siddiqui, also known as “Lady Al Qaeda,” is serving an 86-year sentence at a federal prison near Fort Worth.
