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Hostages held at Colleyville synagogue
Authorities in Colleyville were negotiating with a man who took people hostage at Congregation Beth Israel.
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Law enforcement officials said the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team was used in the operation to free hostages from a Colleyville synagogue after an 11-hour standoff.
Late Saturday, the hostages were released and the hostage-taker was declared dead at the Beth Israel synagogue.
Officials said the FBI called its Hostage Rescue Ream from Quantico, Virginia, and about 60 to 70 people arrived from Washington, according to Matt DeSarno, the special agent in charge from Dallas.
“As Chief Miller said, the FBI hostage rescue team, I consider one of the crown jewels of our organization,” DeSarno said. “Their mission is to conduct deliberate hostage rescues when necessary. In this case, we had a necessity for that. And they were successful, I’m very proud of that. I’m also extremely proud of the team of negotiators, FBI agents, local police officers who worked all day long and engaged with the subject and likely saved the lives of the subjects just through their engagement. It’s very likely the situation would have ended very badly early on in the day if we’d not had professional consistent negotiation with the subject.”
The team was formed following the 1972 Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli athletes were taken hostage and killed. The FBI instituted the team in 1983 ahead of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
The Hostage Rescue Team is described as the “last line of defense for federal law enforcement when it comes to high-risk missions involving terrorists, hostage-takers, and violent criminals,” according to a video on the agency’s website that marked the teams 30th anniversary.
The team has been dispatched more than 850 times since it was formed.
“HRT has performed missions involving hostage rescue, barricaded subjects, undercover operations, high-risk arrests, and surveillance operations,” the website reads. “It has undertaken traditional law enforcement roles in response to large natural disasters and dignitary protection missions, and has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries to protect FBI personnel and to conduct sensitive site exploitations and intelligence gathering activities.”
According to the FBI, the team is composed of special agents who are required to pass “ a challenging two-week selection process and arduous six-month training course.”
“The team is supported by intelligence, logistics, and technical operations squads that are also staffed by special agents and professional and support personnel, the website reads. “Assignment to HRT requires a significant personal commitment. The daily training tempo is rigorous, and there is frequent travel for training and operations.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2022 11:13 PM.
