DALLAS — A second man who was taken into custody by British authorities last week in the investigation into the Colleyville synagogue hostage situation has been released, officials said.
The man and one other man were arrested in Manchester, England, on Wednesday. One man was initially released Thursday, authorities said. The second man was released Monday, according to a news release from Greater Manchester Police.
No more information about their involvement in the investigation was released.
Their arrests followed four prior arrests of people who were also later released by Greater Manchester Police in the investigation. Two men and two teenagers were taken into custody in the days following the hostage situation and all four were released without charges.
The suspect who died on Jan. 15 at the synagogue, Malik Faisal Akram, was a British citizen.
British officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West and other agencies have continued their investigation into the hours-long siege that took place on Jan. 15 where four hostages escaped safely and the hostage-taker died at the scene.
Akram, 44, was originally from the Blackburn area of Lancashire, the police department said.
The hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel, which lasted nearly 12 hours, ended shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday with all three of the remaining hostages making it out safe. A fourth hostage had been released hours before authorities said a rescue team "breached the synagogue."
Last week, the man who is accused of selling Akram the gun he used during the hostage situation was arrested and federally charged, officials announced.
The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced that Henry “Michael” Williams, 32, has been charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to officials, Williams sold Akram a semiautomatic Taurus G2C pistol on Jan. 13, despite Williams being prohibited from carrying or selling firearms because of his prior conviction. Officials said they later recovered that gun at the end of the standoff.
