The investigation into a hostage attack on a synagogue in Texas has stretched to the United Kingdom, with police in Manchester announcing they had arrested two teenagers in relation to the incident.
Authorities have identified the hostage-taker as 44-year-old British national, Malik Faisal Akram, who was killed Saturday night local time after the last hostages ran out of Congregation Beth Israel after a 10-hour stand-off, which ended with an FBI SWAT team rushing into the building and the captor's death.
The FBI said there was no early indication that anyone else was involved but had not provided a possible motive.
However, the Greater Manchester Police released a statement on Twitter, saying that counterterrorism officers had made the arrests in South Manchester but did not say whether the pair faced any charges.
London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement that its counterterrorism police were liaising with US authorities about the incident.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden called the episode an act of terror.
Rabbi credits security training for safe rescue
Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, who was among the four people held hostage, said that their armed captor grew "increasingly belligerent and threatening" toward the end of the 10-hour stand-off.
The rabbi credited security training that his suburban Fort Worth congregation had received over the years for getting him and the other three hostages through the ordeal, which he described as traumatic.
"In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening," he said in a statement.
"Without the instruction we [had] received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself."
Akram could be heard for a time ranting on a Facebook livestream of the services and demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist suspected of having ties to al Qaeda, who was convicted of trying to kill US Army officers in Afghanistan.
Rabbi Cytron-Walker said his congregation had received training from local authorities and the Secure Community Network, which was founded in 2004 by a coalition of Jewish organisations and describes itself as "the official safety and security organisation" of the Jewish community in North America.
Michael Masters, the chief executive of the organisation, said the congregation had been provided with security training in August and had not been previously aware of Akram.
The stand-off led authorities to tighten security in other places, including New York City, where police said that they increased their presence "at key Jewish institutions" out of an abundance of caution.
Michael Finfer, the president of the congregation, said in a statement: "There was a one-in-a-million chance that the gunman picked our congregation."
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Twitter: "This event is a stark reminder that anti-Semitism is still alive and we must continue to fight it worldwide."
Suspect entered US on tourist visa
Federal investigators believe Akram purchased the handgun used in the hostage-taking in a private sale, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing.
Akram arrived in the US at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York about two weeks ago, a law enforcement official said.
The suspect arrived on a tourist visa from Great Britain, according to a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not intended to be public.
It wasn't clear why Akram chose the synagogue, although the prison where Siddiqui is serving her sentence is in Fort Worth.
The FBI issued a statement, calling the ordeal "a terrorism-related matter, in which the Jewish community was targeted".
It also said the Joint Terrorism Task Force was investigating.
AP/ABC
