NYC Rabbi Angela Buchdahl Describes Call From Texas Hostage Situation: 'Nothing Else I Could Do But Wait And Pray'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The New York City rabbi connected to the hostage situation at a Texas synagogue described those horrifying moments during a sermon Friday.

While delivering her sermon at Central Synagogue in Midtown, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl recounted being left a voicemail from the Texas rabbi, as the gunman held him hostage.

She said Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker sounded "unfaltering" and praised him for being "calm and heroic."

The reason the gunman wanted to talk to Buchdahl? She said he thought she could help free a convicted terrorist.

"When the gunman called me a second time, he said, 'I'm running out of patience, and you are running out of time,'" Buchdahl said. "I had already talked to the authorities. I knew there was nothing else I could do, but wait and pray."

The suspect, 44-year-old Malik Faisal Akram, was killed in the standoff. No one else was hurt.

The FBI has called the incident an act of terrorism.

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