Six people have been injured and reportedly burned in a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday that the FBI is investigating as an act of terror.
A suspect — identified as 45-year old Mohammed Sabry Soliman of Colorado Springs by local authorities — was encountered on the scene and taken into custody; he was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
Details of the Attack
About 1:26 pm, police received calls that a man with a weapon near the county courthouse on 13th and Pearl streets was setting people on fire, according to Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn. They found multiple victims with a range of injuries from serious to minor including “injuries consistent with burns,” Redfearn said at a Sunday afternoon news conference.
Officials confirmed six people ages 67 to 88 were injured. During an evening news conference, police said four of the victims were taken to Boulder Community Hospital, while two victims were airlifted to the Aurora, Colorado, hospital burn unit. Redfearn added they are “fairly confident” the attack was the work of just one person.
Police declined to comment on what the suspect would be charged with or when charges would be announced, but said they will bring full accountability for the attack.
Eyewitness videos of the attack show a shirtless man holding what appear to be two Molotov cocktails and yelling “Free Palestine!” at a group of demonstrators seeking the release of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza. Witness interviews reported by the Boulder Daily Camera called the attack “absolutely horrific and shocking” and also described Molotov cocktails on the scene. Israeli flags were seen on the ground.
Law Enforcement Response
The suspect used a “makeshift flamethrower” and threw an incendiary device, Redfearn and the FBI Denver unit confirmed at the evening news conference in Boulder.
“It is clear that this is a targeted act of violence and the FBI is investigating this as an act of terrorism,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Mark D. Michalek said. “It’s our job — the FBI, the Boulder police, and our law enforcement and community partners — to bring these criminals to justice and keep these communities safe.”
Special agents with the Denver FBI and their response teams are assisting local law enforcement with resources, processing the crime scene and interviewing key witnesses, Michalek added. The area was still being searched for explosive devices, and an evacuation zone was in place.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said that the National Counterterrorism Center is working with the FBI on the investigation, in a social media post.
Political and Community Reactions
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the attack, a senior White House official told POLITICO. The White House has yet to release a statement.
Local chief Redfearn had stopped short of describing it as a terrorist attack in his first news conference Sunday afternoon, saying that it would be “irresponsible to speculate on motive” at that stage in the investigation.
“We are not calling it a terrorist attack at this point,” Redfearn said. “Once we have a clear motive, we will react accordingly.”
This came shortly after FBI Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino posted about the FBI investigating a “targeted terror attack” in Boulder.
“This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts,” Bongino posted on X. “We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it.”
The attack comes after heightened protests surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, which has become a central part of the Trump administration’s push to counter anti-semitism amid Trump’s bid to broker a ceasefire deal in the region.
The nonviolent pro-Israel demonstration organized by Run for Their Lives gathered on Pearl Street, local police said — though they cautioned earlier Sunday that there were many people out on the pedestrian-only open air street mall. The pedestrian mall is also popular with tourists and local college students.
At the evening news conference, Redfearn and the local FBI confirmed that the suspect had been yelling “Free Palestine.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he was monitoring the unfolding situation in Boulder, and his office is working closely with federal and local law enforcement.
“My thoughts go out to the people who have been injured by this heinous and targeted act on the Jewish community,” Polis said in a Sunday evening statement. “We have overcome tragedies together and will get through this together as a community.”
State Attorney General Phil Weiser also did not hedge his words — calling the act a “hate crime.”
“From what we know, this attack appears to be a hate crime given the group that was targeted,” Weiser said in a statement. “People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences.”
Boulder’s Jewish community denounced the attack, saying that the Run for Their Lives protestors were raising awareness of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
“Our hearts go out to those who witnessed this horrible attack, and prayers for a speedy recovery to those who were injured,” the community wrote in a social media post.
The Jewish group Anti-Defamation League described the Run for Their Lives demonstration as a “weekly meeting of Jewish community members to run/walk in support of the hostages kidnapped,” adding that they are monitoring the situation as they approach the Shavuot holiday — which celebrates the giving of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai and began Sunday evening.
One of the organizers for the Run for Their Lives group in Boulder had posted on social media raising awareness for the demonstration, saying that the group met in downtown Boulder every Sunday for a “weekly humanitarian walk.”
Previous Incidents and Political Context
The attack comes more than a week after two Israeli embassy staffers were shot to death outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, with the suspect claiming his motive was defending Palestinians and Gaza while being taken into custody. It also comes four years after a shooter at a grocery store in Boulder took four lives, and was sentenced to life in prison.
In April, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was firebombed with Molotov cocktails thrown through the governor’s mansion windows in what was described as an attempt on his life. The suspected arsonist reportedly claimed in a 911 call he attacked the governor in defense of Palestinians. “It is absolutely horrific what happened to him,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said of Shapiro.
