The federal agency said it was unaware that three hostages were already escaping the temple as an elite rescue team entered from different sides, killing the attacker.
Eleven hours into the standoff in a synagogue in suburban Fort Worth on Saturday evening, it was clear to the F.B.I. that the situation was devolving. The attacker, who had entered Congregation Beth Israel that morning and taken four hostages, was becoming more agitated and less communicative. “He was giving ultimatums and deadlines about killing hostages,” Matthew DeSarno, the bureau’s top agent in Dallas, said in an interview on Friday. “We took him at his word.” Mr. DeSarno decided to launch the F.B.I.’s elite Hostage Rescue Team, which had arrived from Quantico, Va. Inside the synagogue, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker had come to a similar conclusion: It was time to take action. At around 9 p.m., almost simultaneously, and unaware of the other group’s plans, the hostages inside the sanctuary moved for an exit as the highly trained agents outside moved in elsewhere. As the congregants staged a daring escape, the agents shot and killed the attacker, Malik Faisal Akram, a British citizen. The details of the hostages’ dramatic recovery had been murky until Friday. Law enforcement initially characterized the event as a rescue. But two of the hostages described it an escape. On Friday, Rabbi Cytron-Walker described looking for an opportunity to flee as night fell with three hostages remaining; one had been released around 5 p.m. “None of us could imagine one person going and leaving the others behind,” he said. When Mr. Akram had a cup of juice in one hand and seemed less prepared to respond to a quick motion, they got their chance. Rabbi Cytron-Walker threw a chair at Mr. Akram and the hostages ran for the door.
