Family of Texas synagogue gunman condemns attack, says he had mental health issues

The Blackburn Muslim Community in Britain has confirmed that Faisal Akram, a member of the community, was the gunman who took hostages at a Texas synagogue and died during a rescue operation.

“Faisal Akram has sadly departed from this temporary world and returned to his Creator,” the community says in a Facebook post, urging the public to “let the authorities complete their investigations, have respect for the family and allow them to mourn peacefully.”

A comment on the post features a statement by Akram’s brother, who says the family is “devastated” and that “we as a family do not condone any of his actions and would like to sincerely apologize wholeheartedly to all the victims involved in the unfortunate incident.”

The brother, Gulbar, says the attacker “was suffering from mental health issues,” adding that “we were confident that he would not harm the hostages.”

He claims Akram willingly freed the hostages, saying: “Don’t believe the bull#### in the media, they were released from the fire exit and not rescued.”

“A few minutes later a firefight has taken place and he was shot and killed,” he says. “There was nothing we could have said to him or done that would have convinced him to surrender.

“We would also like to add that any attack on any human being be it a Jew, Christian or Muslim etc is wrong and should always be condemned.”