US: All of the four hostages held at a synagogue in Texas have been freed unharmed by the man who took them captive, the state's Governor Greg Abbott said on Sunday.
"Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe," Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted.
A man had disrupted religious services at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas and taken at least four people hostage, including the Rabbi. What followed was an hours-long stand-off between the suspect and law enforcement agencies.
The man was demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist, suspected of having links to the al-Qaida, who was convicted of trying to kill US Army officers in Afghanistan. CNN reported that moments before the hostages were freed, a loud bang, followed by a short blast of rapid gunfire, was heard coming from the direction of the Colleyville synagogue.
- INDIA TODAY
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