(NewsNation) — The man accused of attacking a crowd of people and injuring at least eight in Boulder, Colorado, has been charged with first-degree murder, though police said Monday that no victims had died.
Boulder County booking documents show 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman is facing eight felony charges, including murder in the first degree.
Soliman is accused of attacking a group of demonstrators on Sunday using a makeshift flamethrower and an incendiary device. The group, a local chapter of the Run for Their Lives organization, was gathered at an outdoor mall on Boulder’s popular Pearl Street to call for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.
2 people remain hospitalized after Colorado attack: Group leader
As of Monday morning, law enforcement said four women and four men, who range in age from 52 to 88, were injured in the attack. A Justice Department official confirmed to NewsNation that one of the victims was a Holocaust survivor.
Miri Kornfeld, leader of Run for Their Lives’ Denver chapter, confirmed to NewsNation that four people hurt in Boulder had been released from the hospital, while two remained hospitalized.
People wait behind police tape to be allowed back into areas cordoned off by law enforcement officials that are on scene to investigate an attack on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) A police officer during the investigation of the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) Law enforcement officials are on scene to investigate an attack on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, on June 1. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images) An Israeli flag stands in a bed of flowers as caution tape blocks off a deserted Pearl Street. (Photo by Eli Imadali / AFP) (Photo by ELI IMADALI/AFP via Getty Images) Law enforcement officials dress in protective gear to investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall on June 1 in Boulder, Colorado. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall on June 1 in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Law enforcement officials investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall on June 1 in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Law enforcement officials dress up in protective gear to investigative an attack on the Pearl Street Mall. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
“We don’t have a status update yet on how those two are doing, but we’re praying for happiness,” Kornfeld said.
Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office, said the suspect yelled “Free Palestine” during the attack.
Boulder attack witness describes ‘horrific’ scene
Brian Horwitz, an eyewitness who shot video in the attack’s aftermath, told NewsNation on Monday he heard Soliman saying, “You kill my people. I’ll kill you. You guys are all killers, child killers.”
The scene was “pretty horrific,” Horwitz told NewsNation. “There were people lying on the ground, writhing in pain, screams, people yelling.”
‘Run for Their Lives’ members didn’t know suspect: Group leader
Kornfeld told NewsNation that she doesn’t think the local Run for Their Lives members knew Soliman.
“There’s, you know, the typical protesters that show up all the time in Boulder. He was not one of them. He’s not somebody that was on anybody’s radar, at least the Run For Their Lives people or my friends up in Boulder,” Kornfeld said. “He was not somebody that they had seen before.”
Suspect identified as living in US illegally by White House
Soliman, an Egyptian national identified by the White House as an “illegal alien” who overstayed his visa, was also injured during the attack. He was medically evaluated before being booked into the Boulder County Jail, according to law enforcement.
The White House deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser Stephen Miller said on social media:
“A terror attack was committed in Boulder, Colorado by an illegal alien. He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed.”
It was unclear Monday morning if Soliman would face further charges in connection with the incident, which the FBI called a “targeted terror attack.”
Trump blasts Biden in Boulder response
In a social media post Monday, President Donald Trump criticized his predecessor’s border policies while admonishing Sunday’s violence.
“Yesterday’s horrific attack in Boulder, Colorado, WILL NOT BE TOLERATED in the United States of America. He came in through Biden’s ridiculous Open Border Policy, which has hurt our Country so badly,” Trump wrote.
He continued: “My heart goes out to the victims of this terrible tragedy, and the Great People of Boulder, Colorado!”