The man who attacked eight people Sunday afternoon on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder, according to jail records. State and federal investigators have not confirmed publicly if any of the victims died from their injuries.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman was booked into Boulder County Jail late Sunday night on suspicion of seven felonies, including murder and assault, and is being held on a $10 million bond, according to jail records.
Soliman was living in Colorado illegally at the time of the attack, according to Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin.
He entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a visa that expired in February 2023, McLaughlin said in a Monday morning statement on social media. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022 but didn’t specify that motion’s status.
FBI agents were in El Paso County, where Soliman was living, on Sunday night “conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity” related to the Pearl Street investigation, according to agency officials.
The victims were identified Sunday night as four men and four women between the ages of 52 and 88, according to Boulder police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Boulder officials said at least four victims were sent to the Boulder Community Health hospital on Sunday. The UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital’s burn unit was treating three patients Monday morning, according to spokeswoman Alli Witzman.
Updates on the victims’ conditions were not available Monday morning.
What happened during the Sunday attack?
The attack, which federal officials have characterized as a “targeted act of violence” and terrorism, happened at 1:26 p.m. on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall as the city’s chapter of Run for Their Lives arrived outside the Boulder County Historic Courthouse during their weekly demonstration walk.
Run for Their Lives is a national movement calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas.
Soliman threw an incendiary device into the crowd and used a “makeshift flamethrower” to light people on fire, federal officials said.
Mark Michalek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, said Soliman yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack.
The attack happened just before the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which began at sundown on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement Monday to the Associated Press saying he, his wife and the entire nation of Israel were praying for the full recovery of the people wounded in the “vicious terror attack” in Colorado.
“This attack was aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews,” Netanyahu said.
Police in Boulder evacuated multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall during the investigation. As of 7:30 a.m. Monday, the 1300 block remained closed, police said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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