Texas synagogue hostage-taker had stayed in area shelters
By JAMIE STENGLE, JAKE BLEIBERG and ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — An armed man who took four people hostage during a 10-hour standoff at a Texas synagogue had spent time in area homeless shelters in the two weeks leading up to the attack, and was dropped off at one by someone he appeared to know. The CEO of a Dallas facility that provides services to homeless people said 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, who was a British citizen, spent the night of Jan. 2 there. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told “CBS Mornings” that he’d let Akram into Congregation Beth Israel on Saturday morning because he appeared to need shelter. Akram was killed after the hostages ran out. The synagogue is in Colleyville, a city of about 26,000 people located northwest of Dallas.
