NYC Rabbi Angela Buchdahl Describes Call From Texas Hostage Situation: 'Nothing Else I Could Do But Wait And Pray'
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The New York City rabbi connected to the hostage situation at a Texas synagogue described those horrifying moments during a sermon Friday.
While delivering her sermon at Central Synagogue in Midtown, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl recounted being left a voicemail from the Texas rabbi, as the gunman held him hostage.
She said Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker sounded "unfaltering" and praised him for being "calm and heroic."
The reason the gunman wanted to talk to Buchdahl? She said he thought she could help free a convicted terrorist.
"When the gunman called me a second time, he said, 'I'm running out of patience, and you are running out of time,'" Buchdahl said. "I had already talked to the authorities. I knew there was nothing else I could do, but wait and pray."
The suspect, 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, was killed in the standoff. No one else was hurt.
The FBI has called the incident an act of terrorism.