More details may yet offer a deeper understanding of why it happened. Waiting out was what worked in the end, officials said.It started like most any Saturday for members of Congregation Beth Israel.įamilies of the Reform Jewish synagogue just outside Dallas-Fort Worth had gathered – in person and online – to participate in the Sabbath service, even amid the twin perils of a fresh pandemic wave and a swelling tide of attacks on Jewish people in the United States.īy day’s end, the community of faith in Colleyville, Texas, would be at the center of a global drama involving a livestreamed hostage-taking, an imprisoned terrorist icon, an elite FBI rescue team, a rabbi’s quick thinking and a final, frantic sprint to freedom. Then he would turn the radio on and sit there.” “At times, he said he was going to give up, then didn’t,” Dwyer said. MORE: 2 battles for first responders today: Fire and dangerous weather Negotiators did provide food and water to Gazaway and the boy, who were in a vehicle in the garage most of the time.Īt times, they could hear the boy cry and saying, “Why are you doing this to me?”Ĭhief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said the negotiation process was not good, due to the location and Gazaway’s refusal to actually use the cell phone officials provided. We could not move in, we could not do anything without jeopardizing the child.” While the sheriff will not say if that was actually a plan, he did say, “He never gave us a chance. we thought he wanted us to shoot him,” Jones said.

“We did not at times think we were going to get a good result …. MORE: Suspect in standoff demanded thousands from 10-year-old boy’s mother Several trained deputies and police officers negotiated with Gazaway for hours through a speaker on a cell phone tossed to him, a bullhorn and Gazaway yelling to authorities.

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