A man shouted “free Palestine” and used a “makeshift flamethrower” during an attack in Boulder, Colorado, that injured six people marching to bring awareness of Israeli hostages held by Hamas, officials said.
The suspect was identified as Sabry Soliman, 45, who was taken into custody at the scene, Mark Michalek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver office, said in a news conference Sunday evening. The assault was being investigated as an act of terrorism, he said.
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The injured range in age from 67 to 88. The worst of the six was described by Michalek as being in critical condition; Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn earlier said the rest had minor injuries.
They were at or near a weekly demonstration to support awareness of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas militants, officials said.
The group Run for Their Lives — Boulder has been holding the demonstrations fairly regularly, sometimes weekly, following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the group has said.
More than 250 hostages were taken during the attack, according to Israeli figures. Following multiple waves of releases and several deaths, twenty-three are believed to still be alive.
Redfearn described what dispatchers were told about Sunday’s attack in front of the historic Boulder County Courthouse at 1:26 p.m.: “There was a man with a weapon and … people were being set on fire.”
Stressing that the investigation is in its early stages, two senior law enforcement officials said Soliman is an Egyptian national who seemingly acted alone. They said he has no prior significant contact with law enforcement.
An initial review of the man’s possible social media accounts has not answered questions about his motive or point to any particular ideology, the two senior law enforcement officials said.
The officials said they are looking into eyewitness reports saying the suspect dressed as a landscaper or otherwise donned workmen’s clothing to blend in before the attack.
Redfearn said Soliman had suffered minor injuries that required hospitalization upon arrest.
The chief added that it’s too early to say whether the group supporting the release of hostages was specifically targeted. “It’s way too early to speculate motive,” he said.
People were being asked to stay away from downtown Boulder as police checked out a vehicle that may have been associated with the attack, Redfearn said.
“The area is not safe yet,” he said.
He described the location, Pearl Street Mall and adjoining public space outside the county courthouse, as being popular with pedestrians on weekends. “There were a lot of people out,” Redfearn said.
“This was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street, and this act is unacceptable,” he said.
He said FBI agents were at the scene assisting police with the investigation. FBI Director Kash Patel called the incident “a targeted terror attack” on X.
Run for Their Lives said in a media kit that it “started for the sole reason of advocating for the release of the hostages. … We set our principles very specifically to be a safe, quiet, peaceful, inclusive of all religions, non-political global initiative.”
Group members in Boulder did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Brooke Coffman was walking down Pearl Street on her lunch break Sunday when she saw a commotion near the courthouse. Worried someone was “getting beat up,” she approached the area.
Then, “I saw this big fire go up,” Coffman told NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver.
Coffman said she called 911 as she rushed toward the fiery scene.
She said she saw two women “rolling around a little bit” in their underwear after having stripped out of their burning clothes with “really bad burns all up on their legs.” Another woman nearby, also with burns on her legs, was screaming.
Coffman could barely make out the face of one of the women, she said, choking up, adding the woman’s hair was burned off.
“It just wasn’t a good scene,” Coffman said.
Others nearby rushed to the scene with jugs of water, dousing the victims, Coffman said. She said that she saw at least seven people down, mostly older women, but that she heard there were more victims, including children.
She said she saw a shirtless man, presumably the suspect, screaming while he waved a glass bottle that contained a liquid.
Social media video of the immediate aftermath of the attack, including the police response, shows a man without a shirt holding what appears to be a clear bottle with a white top in each hand, shouting, standing away from people and shaking the bottles as he paced.
“I know it’s Boulder, it’s Pearl Street, some stuff happens … but you just don’t really think it’s going to happen right here, you don’t think it’s something you’re going to see, so many people hurt” and someone do that to other people, Coffman told KUSA.
A joint statement from multiple Boulder Jewish organizations and congregations noted that the Jewish community has experienced similar events in recent memory.
“When events like this enter our own community, we are shaken,” the organizations said. “Our hope is that we come together for one another.”
“Our hearts go out to those who witnessed this horrible attack, and prayers for a speedy recovery to those who were injured,” the statement read.
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose mother was born in a concentration camp and whose grandparents survived the Holocaust, said the attack appeared to be “a hate crime given the group that was targeted.” Weiser said his office was ready to support local prosecutors when the time comes to file any possible charges.
