The man who attacked 12 people Sunday afternoon on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall is being held on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, according to jail records.
None of the victims has died, Boulder police said in a Monday morning update.
Who is the suspect in the Boulder attack?
Mohamed Sabry Soliman was charged Monday with a federal hate crime in the Sunday attack, according to federal court documents from the U.S. Department of Justice.
He was booked into Boulder County Jail late Sunday night on suspicion of 42 state felony charges, according to his county arrest affidavit. The charges under investigation include:
- Eight counts of attempted first-degree murder after deliberation,
- Eight counts of attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference,
- Six counts of first-degree assault of an at-risk or elderly victim,
- Two counts of first-degree assault,
- Two counts of possession of an incendiary device,
- And 16 counts of attempted possession of an incendiary device.
If convicted on all charges, he could face up to 624 years in prison, according to officials at a Monday afternoon news conference.
Soliman on Monday afternoon appeared virtually in court at the Boulder County Jail for his first appearance with a bandage around his head covering both ears in an orange jumpsuit. Judge Nancy W. Salomone advised that he should have no contact with any of the victims in the case, per his protection order. She made no changes to his $10 million bail.
Soliman is an Egyptian citizen who was living in Colorado illegally on an expired tourist visa at the time of the attack, according to the Boulder County arrest affidavit.
Feds detain wife, 5 children of suspect in Boulder fire attack for deportation
He didn't originally plan to use Molotov cocktails in the attack, but had to switch to the explosive devices after he was unable to purchase a gun because of his immigration status, the affidavit stated.
Soliman entered the U.S. in August 2022 on a visa that expired in February 2023, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Tricia 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.
The 45-year-old told investigators that he didn't expect to survive the attack, according to the arrest affidavit. He sprayed himself with gasoline and expected to burn alongside his victims.
In order to get as close to the group as possible, Soliman dressed like a gardener, police said in the affidavit. He wore an orange vest, bought flowers from Home Depot and purchased a backpack weed sprayer that he filled with gasoline.
Soliman lived with his family in a modest townhome on a cul-de-sac in El Paso County near Colorado Springs. No one answered the door on Monday morning.
A Spider-Man bicycle with training wheels was parked on the sidewalk, and several other tricycles and toys were stacked near the front door.
Neighbors said multiple children, ranging in age from toddlers to teenagers, lived in the home with Soliman. An adult woman also lived there, multiple neighbors said.
The children often played outside in front of the row of townhouses, where gravel covers the yard. Most of the homes in the area are rentals.
The neighbors who spoke to The Denver Post declined to give their names, saying they did not want to be associated with the attack in any way. They said they only knew the family casually, just waving and saying hello if they saw each other outside.
Shameka Pruiett told the Associated Press that she knew Soliman and his family as kindly neighbors with five children, three young kids and two teenagers, who’d play with Pruiett’s kids in front of their building, share food and hellos.
But she said when she saw Soliman on video in Boulder, shirtless and holding bottles with flames licking up the grass in front of him, it was hard to recognize him.
“There had to be something deeply disturbing him, cause that is not the guy we see in the neighborhood,” said Pruiett, leaning on her doorframe and gazing several feet away at Soliman’s apartment. Soliman had never been outwardly political, she said, “he didn’t push his views or values on anyone.”
What's happening in El Paso County?
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.
On Sunday, Pruiett saw law enforcement vehicles waiting on the street throughout the day until the evening, when they spoke through a megaphone, telling anyone in Soliman’s home to come out. Nobody came out, and it did not appear anyone was inside, said Pruiett. The raid lasted several hours, she said.
Who are the victims?
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 District Attorney Michael Dougherty announced Monday that an additional four victims had come forward since the attack on Sunday. Those four people had minor injuries and did not need to be hospitalized.
Officials on late Monday afternoon could not say whether any of the victims were bystanders.
Miri Kornfeld, director of Colorado’s bureau of international pro-Israel nonprofit Stand With US and volunteer leader for Run for Their Lives, confirmed one of the victims – who has been released from the hospital – was a Holocaust survivor.
Boulder officials said at least four victims were sent to the Boulder Community Health hospital on Sunday.
All of the victims treated at Boulder Community Health were transferred or discharged Sunday evening, hospital spokeswoman Celanie Pinnell said in an email to The Denver Post. She did not say how many victims the hospital treated or how many were transferred.
"Out of respect for patient privacy and in coordination with local authorities, we are not able to provide additional details at this time," Pinnell said.
The UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital's burn unit was treating three patients Monday morning, according to spokeswoman Alli Witzman.
Updates on the conditions of the victims who were still in the hospital were not available Monday morning.
What happened during the Sunday attack in Boulder?
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 told investigators he planned the attack for more than a year and chose to target the Run for Their Freedom walk because they were Zionists, according to charging documents in the hate crime.
He threw two lit Molotov cocktails at the group and investigators also found a box with 14 other unlit Molotov cocktails and a weed sprayer, all filled with gasoline.
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.
President Donald Trump decried the attack in a post on Truth Social on Monday morning.
"Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America," the post stated. "... This is yet another example of why we must keep our Borders SECURE, and deport Illegal, Anti-American Radicals from our Homeland. My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!"
Police in Boulder evacuated multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall during the investigation. As of 9 a.m. Monday, the evacuations had been lifted but government buildings in the area remained closed, according to the Boulder Office of Disaster Management.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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