‘Terror’ attack in downtown Boulder leaves multiple victims injured

A view of the Boulder County Courthouse on the Pearl Street Mall in downtown Boulder on Aug. 14, 2021. (Quentin Young/Colorado Newsline)

Multiple people were injured Sunday in downtown Boulder when a man reportedly lit them on fire, according to local police.

Six victims ranging in age from 67 to 88 years old were transported to hospitals in the region, police said. One was described as being in critical condition, with other victims’ injuries ranging from serious to minor.

The suspect, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Saliman, was taken into custody by police and was being treated for minor injuries at a hospital, Mark D. Michalek, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Denver field office, said during a Sunday evening press conference.

“Witnesses are reporting that the subject used a makeshift flamethrower and threw an incendiary device into the crowd,” Michalek said.

The attack took place near the Boulder County Courthouse on the Pearl Street Mall, an area in the heart of the city that typically attracts hundreds of people on the weekend. The first calls about the attack came at 1:26 p.m., Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said earlier Sunday.

“The initial callers indicated that there was a man with a weapon and that people were being set on fire,” he said. “When we arrived, we encountered multiple victims that were injured with injuries consistent with burns and other injuries.”

Participants in the Boulder branch of Run For Their Lives, which organizes events calling for the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, were in the area at the time of the attack.

Michalek said the suspect was “heard to yell ‘Free Palestine’ during the attack.” He called it a “targeted act of violence” and said the FBI was investigating it as an act of terrorism.

Kash Patel, director of the FBI, earlier on Sunday called the incident a “targeted terror attack,” and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said it was a “heinous act of terror.”

The Anti-Defamation League said on social media it was “monitoring the situation in Colorado.”

Joe Neguse, a Democrat who represents Boulder in the U.S. House, characterized the attack as targeting Jewish people.

“I am horrified by the heinous act of terror that took place in downtown Boulder this afternoon,” he said in a statement. “Tonight, as many prepare to mark the Shavuot holiday, our Jewish community has been subjected to yet another brutal and horrific act of violence. The scourge of antisemitism has metastasized across our country, and we must do more — now — to stop this hatred and violence.”

Phil Weiser, Colorado’s attorney general, indicated the group was targeted.

“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. Hate has no place in Colorado.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.