lubeski who is known as this magician of the camera, he was able to do these things that no one had done before. i was speaking the other day with someone who is an industry professional and he had said he and several other people he knew decided to become filmmakers when they saw the car scene in children of men. [ explosion ] jesus! right. it was like doing a set piece. you know, we were really driving the car. there were really fires on the hill. the camera would move overhead, so for us as actors, it was exciting. [ screaming ] [ bleep ]. cnn breaking news. hello and welcome, everyone. i m michael hoemtz. we ve been tracking breaking news of course out of texas where at least three people are currently being held hostage at a fort worth-area synagogue.
cnn s ed lavandera is on the scene in texas for us. ed, there have been some developments that you heard. bring us up to date. reporter: hi, michael. this is all here developing in the last 25 minutes. let me get to the headline. coordinating a tweet just sent out by the governor of texas, greg abbott, all of the hostages are out of the synagogue safe and alive. that tweeted just moments ago by the governor of texas. we have not heard that directly from law enforcement, the fbi, or authorities here on the ground. but i can tell you that about 25 minutes ago as we were sitting here in the parking lot, a little more than a quarter mile away from the synagogue, we heard a loud explosion and then shortly after a rapid series of gunfire that lasted just a short amount of time. after that, it has been quiet. and then now just hearing from the governor of texas saying that all of the hostages, the
in the fort worth, texas, area, and that that was what inspired all of this. we have been trying to confirm throughout the day the exact identity of this person, and that has still not happened. there have been some names floating around and connections that perhaps this suspect was connected to siddiqui, who is in the prison here in the fort worth area. but all of this we re still waiting to hear more confirmation. and now for the first time we re hearing sirens. it has been generally quiet, so i don t know if those sirens are headed toward the synagogue scene or what the case might be, but that is something we have not heard through much of the evening. so things definitely in the atmosphere here definitely changing at this hour, michael. yeah. i hear that prisoner aafia siddiqui was held in federal prison in fort worth, texas, convicted in 2010 on terrorism
communicate with several con gas sta congregation members here. there is been a message gone out to the community alerting them what happened. words are quickly spreading this evening among all the people who have been desperately watching this event unfold, harrowing events unfold throughout the course of the day, michael. you spoke earlier with the member of the congregation who had been seeing this on the stream, is that right? reporter: yeah, there is been several members as i alluded to earlier. the vast majority of the members of this synagogue has been watching and not attending services in person because of the covid pandemic that s why there were few people inside the syna synagogue. they have been watching live stream. the people we spoke with throughout the course of the day have been watching and listening to what was unfolding inside the synagogue for more than an hour.
we heard. and then shortly after, getting this new information from the governor here in texas, michael. and then for those perhaps just joining us, give us a sense of how this all started. i mean, there was a service that was being live streamed, and all hell broke loose, apparently. bring us up to date on that. reporter: sure. just before 11:00 in the morning central time, so approaching nearly, i guess, 11 hours if my math is correct, local police here in the town of colleyville, texas, just northeast of fort worth, started getting reports of the suspect taking people hostage inside this synagogue. we have heard throughout the course of the day from members of this congregation who said they were watching a live stream when they heard the suspect ranting and raising, screaming he isterically inside the synagogue and taking four people hostage in all, including the