'Multiple Gunshot Wounds' Listed As Cause Of Death For Synagogue Hostage Taker Malik Faisal Akram
COLLEYVILLE, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — We now know the exact cause of death for the man shot and killed after taking four members of a North Texas synagogue hostage at gunpoint.
On January 21 the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office listed Malik Faisal Akram's cause of death as homicide by "multiple gunshot wounds."
When Akram went to the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville on January 15 he was said to have looked "displaced," and was welcomed inside after telling those there that he was homeless. It was a short time later, during a Sabbath service being streamed online, that he took four people hostage, holding many of them for more than 10 hours.
During an interview on CBS Mornings Beth Israel Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker recalled how he and the others inside tried to keep Akram occupied, but when the gunman told them to get on their knees he knew it was time to try and escape.
The Rabbi and another man being held hostage yelled for everyone to run and Cytron-Walker said he did what he could to stop Akram. "I told them to go. I threw a chair at the gunman, and I headed for the door. And all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired." The first hostage had been released earlier in the afternoon.
Akram was shot and killed as federal agents stormed the temple.