Charlie Cytron-Walker

Charlie Cytron-Walker (né Walker) is an American rabbi. As of 2022, he is the rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is a former rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas and was held captive during the Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis.

Early life and education Cytron-Walker was born in Lansing, Michigan. He earned a B.A. in social sciences in May 1998 from the University of Michigan. From 1989 to 1999, Cytron-Walker was a senior ambassador for Focus: HOPE in Detroit. In 2006, he became the first full-time rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. This was his first rabbinical appointment. Cytron-Walker also taught at the congregation's religious school.

On January 15, 2022, Cytron-Walker and three others were held hostage by Malik Akram for eleven hours during the Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis.

As the standoff reached ten hours, the situation became dire. Cytron-Walker said Akram grew "increasingly belligerent and threatening." However, Cytron-Walker and the remaining hostages saw that Akram was out of position, knew an exit was nearby, and positioned themselves nearby, one by one. Akram then ordered them to get on their knees, and Cytron-Walker got him a cup of juice to drink. As Akram drank, Cytron-Walker yelled at the others to run and threw a chair at Akram while the others fled towards the exit. All three hostages escaped, and no shots were fired by Akram.

Cytron-Walker had taken courses for a number of years through the FBI, the Anti-Defamation League, the Colleyville Police Department, and Secure Community Network in order to prepare for the possibility of an intruder. Cytron-Walker credited the information learned in the courses with saving the hostages' lives. a diversity management professional, with whom he has two daughters. Upon marriage, they adopted a hyphenated name. She is a 1998 graduate of the University of Michigan.