The suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was booked into the Boulder County jail north of Denver and expected to face charges in connection with the attack the FBI was investigating as a terrorist act. Online records did not immediately show when he would make a court appearance
The burst of violence at the popular Pearl Street pedestrian mall, a four-block area in downtown Boulder, 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 United States
The attack happened on the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, which is marked with the reading of the Torah and barely a week after a man who also yelled "Free Palestine" was charged with fatally shooting two Israeli embassy staffers outside of a Jewish museum in Washington
Across the country, the New York Police Department said it has upped 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, which encompasses Boulder. "This is an example of how perpetrators of violence continue to threaten communities across the nation"
The eight victims who were wounded range in age from 52 to 88 and the injuries spanned from serious to minor, officials said
The attack occurred as people with a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives was concluding their weekly demonstration to raise visibility for 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 who is holding containers in each hand
Alex Osante of San Diego said he was having lunch on a restaurant patio across the pedestrian mall 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 Osante, people could be seen pouring water on a woman lying on the ground who Osante 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 Osante on the video asking for some water to help
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