This is how the hostages of the Texas synagogue escaped: "When your life is threatened, you have to do everything possible to save yourself"

Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker can barely find the words to recount the nightmare he and three other hostages suffered when a British-born terrorist held them hostage for nearly 11 hours last Saturday at a Texas synagogue.

Looking lost as he recalled the traumatic episode, Charlie Cytron Walker explained to CBS News how he managed to escape: "When your life is threatened, you have to do everything you can to get to safety."

The terrorist was killed in a shootout with police special forces.

The kidnapping began when, shortly before the Shabbat prayer, a man knocked on the door of the synagogue of the Beth Israel congregation in Colleyville, northwest of Dallas, asking for shelter.

"I made him a cup of tea, [it was] like an opportunity to talk to him, and at that point I didn't see anything suspicious. Some of his story didn't make much sense, so it made me a little curious," Cytron Walker said. this Monday to CBS News.

Shortly afterward, during prayer, Cytron Walker heard a

.

"It was his gun," he explained.

At that time, with the rabbi were three other people, including an elderly man in very frail health.

"It was scary. It was overwhelming and we're still processing it," he said.

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Thousands of people also followed the religious service live through social networks, in accordance with the recommendation not to travel to the temple due to the risk posed by the coronavirus.

The memory of many returned to the fatal events of October 2018 at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where an armed man murdered 11 Jews.

Law enforcement vehicles in front of the Congregation Beth Israel Jewish temple, where a man took 4 people hostage on January 15, 2022. Brandon Wade / AP

The terrorist who had sought refuge in the temple turned out to be Malik Faisal Akram, 44, from Lancashire, a city in the northeast of the United Kingdom, as later identified by the FBI.

He landed at New York's John F. Kennedy airport just before New Year's Eve without raising the suspicions of immigration authorities, according to The New York Times.

The objective of his terrorist attack was to demand the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani scientist whom he called a "Muslim sister", who is serving 86 years in a federal prison in Texas for trying to kill US servicemen while she was detained in Afghanistan.

Akram claimed that he and the woman "would go to the Jannah after seeing her," a reference to the Islamic paradise, authorities said.

His family was contacted during the assault to try to mediate.

"There was nothing we could have said or done to convince him to surrender," his brother Gulbar Akram said in a statement.

"He suffered from mental health problems," the family said, according to Sky News television.

Biden calls Texas synagogue robbery a 'terrorist act'

Jan. 17, 202201:01

FBI agents negotiated with Akram for hours to secure the release of the hostages.

Around five in the afternoon, one of them was able to leave the temple unharmed, but three were still inside.

"In the last hour of the kidnapping, more or less, [the terrorist] was not getting what he wanted. The situation did not look good. It did not sound good. We were terrified," said the rabbi, who did not lower his guard and waited for the right moment.

"When I saw an opportunity where [Akram] was not in a good position, I made sure that the two gentlemen who were with me were ready to escape," he recounted.

"The exit wasn't too far. I told them to go, threw a chair at the gunman and headed for the door. And the three of us were able to get out without any shots being fired," he explained with relief.

Akram was killed during a shootout with law enforcement in the final minutes of the hostage-taking, although details of the confrontation have not been released.

Despite the fear, the rabbi acknowledges that the courses he has taken in recent years with the FBI and the Colleyville police helped him to remain calm in a situation like the one experienced on Saturday.

The president, Joe Biden, described the taking of hostages as a "terrorist act" and the British authorities confirmed that the anti-terrorist police of that country is involved in the investigation.

In addition, the Greater Manchester Police Department in the United Kingdom reported Sunday night that it had detained two teenagers for questioning in connection with the investigations.