The rabbi whose quick actions enabled hostages in a terror situation in Colleyville, Texas to escape credited his training in "active shooter" situations.
Charlie Cytron-Walker, the rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel since 2006, said that “over the years, my congregation and I have participated in multiple security courses from the Colleyville Police Department, the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League, and Secure Community Network.”
“We are alive today because of that education. I encourage all Jewish congregations, religious groups, schools, and others to participate in active-shooter and security courses.”
Initial reports out of Colleyville had claimed FBI teams and local police stormed the synagogue on Jan. 15 to rescue the hostages being held by an Islamic terrorist.
Major media reported that "60 or 70" members of the FBI hostage rescue team, based in Quantico, Virginia, flew to Colleyville. Police chief Mike Miller said at a media briefing that the team breached the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue around 9 p.m. local time and rescued the three remaining hostages.
The hostages were not rescued by the FBI or released by terror suspect Malik Faisal Akram, who was killed. They escaped thanks to the efforts of Rabbi Cytron-Walker.
The rabbi threw a chair at Akram and that enabled the three hostages to escape the building and run to safety.
“The last hour of the standoff, he wasn’t getting what he wanted. It didn’t look good. We were terrified,” the rabbi told CBS News. "When I saw an opportunity where he (Akram) wasn't in a good position, I made sure that the 2 gentlemen who were still with me, that they were ready to go... I told them to go. I threw a chair at the gunman and I headed for the door, and all three of us were able to get out.”
“Sadly, the FBI is so used to storming homes of innocent American patriots at 6 in the morning that they were not up for the challenge on Saturday,” Gateway Pundit’s Jim Hoft noted.
The FBI had to walk back its initial belief that the hostage-taker was, as the bureau put it, "singularly focused on one issue, and it was not specifically related to the Jewish community."
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