FOG BLOG U.S. NEWS LOG: MAN HOLDING HOSTAGES IN SYNAGOGUE IN TEXAS IS DEAD, HOSTAGES RELEASED!

Man holding people in Colleyville, Texas, synagogue dead; hostages released safely...The hostage-taker told authorities he wanted the release of Aafia Siddiqui, convicted in 2010 of attempted murder of U.S. soldiers, from federal prison......DALLAS — All hostages have been released safely from a synagogue in the Dallas-Fort Worth area following a more than 10-hour standoff, and the man responsible is dead, according to local and federal law enforcement officials.

A group of four people, including the rabbi, were taken hostage at about 10:41 a.m. Saturday at Congregation Beth Israel, a Reform synagogue in the city of Colleyville, about 30 miles northwest of Dallas.

The hostages were being held by a man demanding the release of a federal prisoner being held in North Texas who was convicted in 2010 of attempted murder in a terrorism-related case, officials said.

One of the hostages was released shortly after 5 p.m. and FBI crisis negotiators continued to communicate with the man in the synagogue Saturday night.

Around 9 p.m., the FBI's hostage rescue team breached the synagogue and rescued the hostages, Colleyville Police Chief Michael C. Miller said.

Miller said the suspect, whose identity has not been released, is dead. Officials did not release details on how the man died.