let me go now to our ed lavandera who is on the scene. you have a lot of reporting on the ground there, including the people who witnessed his first hour of holding the hostages and the oscillation in his demeanor. >> reporter: right, imagine the horrifying feeling that dozens, if not several hundred congregants were experiencing watching the livestream. we're told by one con agree gas because of the covid pandemic, a vast majority of the members of the sin ynagogue here have not n attending services in person, instead opting to watch it online. that's why there were so few people inside this synagogue when all of this unfolded. it's now been more than seven hours and the members describe it as heartbreaking and terrifying to watch and listen to the suspect inside the synagogue take the members of their congregation hostage, one member of the synagogue