The suspect, Malik Faisal Akram, “had been going all day,” Jeffrey Cohen, one of the four hostages held Saturday at Congregation Beth Israel, said in an interview with The Washington Post. Akram had complained to the hostages that he was cold and that he hadn’t eaten anything except potato chips…

The hostages made a pact that they would not try to escape individually, leaving the others to deal with the repercussions. They would all make it out alive together.

Instead of kneeling as Akram had ordered them, Cohen, 57, said he defied the attacker’s demand. He stood up and mouthed the word “no,” looking Akram straight in the eyes.

“I was not going to let him assassinate us,” Cohen said. “I was not going to beg for my life and just have him kill us.”