A man could be heard shouting on a livestream from Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas. F.B.I. crisis negotiators and heavily armed police have converged on the building.
Heavily armed police officers and F.B.I. negotiators were responding on Saturday to a synagogue in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where a man who could be heard shouting on a livestream was inside along with other people.
Katie Chaumont, an F.B.I. spokeswoman, confirmed that the agency’s SWAT team members and crisis negotiators had responded along with the local police to Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, a city of about 26,000 residents that is about 15 miles northeast of Fort Worth.
She said a man was inside along with an undisclosed number of people and that no injuries had been reported. Nearby residents had been evacuated, she said.
“We are currently conducting SWAT operations around the 6100 block of Pleasant Run Rd,” the Colleyville Police Department said on Twitter at about 12:30 p.m. local time. “All residents in the immediate area are being evacuated. Please avoid the area.”
About 90 minutes later, the police said the “situation” remained “ongoing.”
“We ask that you continue to avoid the area,” the police said.
The congregation was holding a scheduled Sabbath service at 10 a.m. on Saturday, which was being livestreamed on its Facebook page.
On the livestream, a man could be heard shouting about dying and not liking police officers, although the context was not clear because the stream was inaudible at times. A video of the livestream did not show what was going on inside the synagogue.
The man could also be heard asking to get his sister on the phone before the livestream stopped.
“It’s a deal,” he said at one point. “It’s a deal I had with you.”
Congregation Beth Israel is led by Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker, according to its website.
“Please join me in prayer for the safety of Rabbi Charlie and all the congregants at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville,” Craig Goldman, a Texas state representative, said on Twitter.
U.S. Representative Colin Allred of Texas said he was praying for the congregants in Colleyville.
“No one should have to fear something like this may happen in their place of worship,” he said on Twitter.
