Eight injured by man with makeshift flamethrower who yelled ‘Free Palestine’

Authorities are searching for evidence after a man with a makeshift flamethrower yelled “Free Palestine” and threw an incendiary device into a group raising attention for Israeli hostages in Gaza

Eight people were injured, some with burns, in the attack in the Pearl Street shopping centre in central Boulder, Colorado.

The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was booked into Boulder County jail north of Denver and is expected to face charges in connection with the attack which the FBI was investigating as a terrorist act.

The burst of violence unfolded against the backdrop of a war between Israel and Hamas that continues to inflame global tensions and has contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the US.

The attack happened at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which is marked with the reading of the Torah, barely a week after a man who also yelled “Free Palestine” was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy employees outside a Jewish museum in Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Monday saying he, his wife and the 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,” he said.

Across the US, New York Police Department said it had increased its presence at religious sites throughout the city for Shavuot.

“Sadly, attacks like this are becoming too common across the country,” said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office. “This is an example of how perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities across the nation.”

The eight victims were aged between 52 and 88 and the injuries ranged from serious to minor, officials said.

The attack occurred as people with a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives was concluding a weekly demonstration to raise visibility of the hostages who remain in Gaza.

Video from the scene shows a witness shouting, “He’s right there. He’s throwing Molotov cocktails”, as a police officer with his gun drawn advances on a bare-chested suspect holding containers in each hand.

Alex Osante, of San Diego, said he was having lunch on a restaurant patio when he heard the crash of a bottle breaking on the ground, a “boom” sound followed by people yelling and screaming.

In video of the scene captured by Mr Osante, people can be seen pouring water on a woman lying on the ground who he said had caught on fire during the attack. A man, who later identified himself as an Israeli visiting Boulder who decided to join the group that day, ran up to Mr Osante on the video asking for some water to help.

After the initial attack, Mr Osante said the suspect went behind some bushes and then re-emerged and threw a petrol bomb but apparently accidentally caught himself on fire as he threw it.

The man then took off his shirt and what appeared to be a bulletproof vest before the police arrived. The man dropped to the ground and was arrested without any apparent resistance.

Lynn Segal, 72, was among about 20 people who had gathered on Sunday. They had finished their march in front of the courthouse when a “rope of fire” shot in front of her and then “two big flares”.

She said the scene quickly turned chaotic as people worked to find water to put out flames and find help.

Ms Segal, who said she is Jewish on her father’s side and has supported the Palestinian cause for more than 40 years, was concerned that she might be accused of helping the suspect because she was wearing a pro-Palestinian shirt.

“There were people who were burning, I wanted to help,” she said. “But I didn’t want to be associated with the perpetrator.”

Authorities did not disclose details about Soliman but said they believe that he acted alone and no other suspect was being sought. He was also injured and was taken to hospital to be treated. Officers did not elaborate on his injuries but a booking photo showed him with a large bandage over one ear.

Soliman was living in the US illegally after entering in August 2022 on a B2 visa that expired in February 2023, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. She said Soliman filed for asylum in September 2022.

Public records listed Soliman as living in a modest rented townhouse in Colorado Springs, where local media outlets reported federal law enforcement agents were on the scene on Sunday.

An online resume under Soliman’s name said he was employed by a Denver-area health care company working in accounting and inventory control, with previous employers listed as companies in Egypt.

Under education, the resume listed Al-Azhar University, a historic centre for Islamic and Arabic learning in Cairo.

FBI leaders immediately declared the attack an act of terrorism and the Justice Department denounced it as a “needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans”.

“This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts. We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it,” FBI deputy director Dan Bongino said in a post on X.