Six people were injured Sunday in what the FBI immediately described as a “targeted terror attack” at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, where a group had gathered to raise attention to Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
The suspect, identified as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, yelled “Free Palestine” and used a makeshift flamethrower in the attack, said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the Denver field office. Soliman was taken into custody.
No charges were immediately announced but officials said they expect to hold him “fully accountable.”
Soliman was also injured and was taken to the hospital to be treated, but authorities didn’t elaborate on the nature of his injuries.
FBI leaders in Washington said they were treating the Boulder attack as an act of terrorism, and the Justice Department — which leads investigations into acts of violence driven by religious, racial or ethnic motivations — decried the attack as a “needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans.”
Israel’s war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. They are still holding 58 hostages, around a third believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.
