Hostages appear to be taken at Texas synagogue – Orange County Register

COLLEYVILLE, Texas – Authorities say a man appeared to have been taken hostage Saturday during a ceremony at a synagogue near Fort Worth, Texas.

The Colleyville Police Department tweeted Saturday afternoon that it is conducting SWAT operations at the Beth Israel Congregational address.

The services have been live-streamed on the synagogue’s Facebook page for some time, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that apparent negotiations between the hostage-taker and the police can be heard. The newspaper reports that an angry man can sometimes be heard shouting and talking about religion during the Live Stream, which does not indicate what is happening inside the synagogue.

Not long before 2 p.m., the man said, “You have to do something. I don’t want to see this guy die.” After a while, the feed was cut off.

The man repeatedly mentioned his sister and Islam and used profanity, and he repeatedly said he was going to die, Star-Telegram reported. It was not immediately clear if he was armed.

It’s not clear how many people were in the building in Colleyville, a community of about 26,000 people 15 miles (23 km) northeast of Fort Worth.