DALLAS — The investigation into the 11-hour standoff at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville on Saturday has continued to unearth new details about what happened before, and during, the attack on the synagogue.
The FBI has said that Malik Faisal Akram appears to be the lone suspect, though the investigation — which has a global reach — remains ongoing.
Here’s what we know about the probe into Akram and the weekend standoff.
FBI says standoff was terrorism-related
The FBI said in a written statement late Sunday that the Colleyville standoff was being investigated as a terrorism-related matter in which the Jewish community was targeted.
The FBI cited the repeated demands Akram made during the standoff for the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman serving an 86-year sentence for shooting at two U.S. military officers during an interrogation.
The FBI’s statement marked the first time the federal investigators had officially attributed the standoff to terrorism. Matthew DeSarno, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Dallas office, had previously said after the standoff that the hostage-taker was “singularly focused on one issue” that was not related to the Jewish community.
The federal bureau said its Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating the matter.
Suspect is a 44-year-old British national
Akram is a 44-year-old British national who reportedly arrived in the U.S at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Dec. 29.
He is originally from Blackburn, an industrial city in Lancashire, England, about 20 miles outside of Manchester.
A British man claiming to be the Akram’s brother wrote on Facebook that FBI officials were expected to arrive in England on Sunday as part of their investigation into the case. The post was later taken down.
The brother later said Akram had declining mental health issues.
Kate Hollern, a member of Parliament for Blackburn, said in a statement Monday that the attacker’s actions don’t represent her community.
“Blackburn is a diverse and tolerant community,” she said. “We embrace and appreciate our differences. We are a community of people from all walks of life who are committed to living side by side with dignity and respect.”
President Biden says Akram bought gun off the street
President Joe Biden said Sunday that Akram might have been in the U.S. for only a few weeks. He said Akram had a gun during the standoff that he is believed to have bought off the street in Texas.
The president said there were no bombs that authorities know of, despite the attacker’s claims that he had some. He added that Akram spent his first night in a homeless shelter, and speculated that he might have gotten a gun there.
“This was an act of terror,” Biden said, adding that he doesn’t know why Congregation Beth Israel was targeted, or “why he insisted on the release of someone who’s been a prisoner for over 10 years” and used “antisemitic and anti-Israeli” language.
Akram stayed at multiple Dallas shelters
Akram spent multiple nights before the attack in at least two Dallas homeless shelters.
OurCalling, a faith-based shelter that provides services to those experiencing homelessness, said Akram came to the shelter the evening of Jan. 2 about 10 p.m. He was dropped off by someone he appeared to have a relationship with because they “hugged as they departed,” according to the shelter’s CEO.
He spent one night there and left the next day, a spokeswoman said.
The stay at OurCalling was the first indication that Akram had spent nights in more than one Dallas-area shelter and had been in the city for more than a week.
Akram also spent three nights at Union Gospel Mission Dallas’ homeless shelter between Jan. 6 and 13, according to the nonprofit’s CEO Bruce Butler.
”We were a way station for him,” Butler told CNN. “He had a plan. He was very quiet. He was in and out.”
Butler said Akram’s last day at the shelter was Thursday, adding that “he was not there long enough to build any relationships.”
Butler reiterated that Akram came and went through the shelter and didn’t share any plans of an attack.
”Had we had reason to believe he was going to engage in a criminal act, we would have contacted authorities immediately,” Butler wrote.
Attacker’s sons were detained in England
Greater Manchester police in England said they detained two teenagers in connection with the Colleyville incident. The two teens were the suspect’s sons who were in touch with him at some point during the standoff, MSNBC reported.
Greater Manchester police tweeted about the arrests but released few details about why counterterrorism officers detained the teens. Authorities have not confirmed the connection the teens had to Akram.
Greater Manchester police declined to release additional details “due to the UK’s stringent Contempt of Court legislation.”
The FBI has not changed its statement that there appears to be a sole suspect. British law gives police wide latitude to make arrests during a terrorism investigation, and diplomats counseled against drawing any conclusions.
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