Police said a male suspect was taken into custody on Sunday after a “targeted” terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, that left multiple people injured, according to the FBI director.
Information on the attack, which occurred near a walk to remember the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza, was “very preliminary,” Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said. But he noted the man was apprehended following calls to police dispatch of someone with a weapon who was “setting people on fire”.
Different Views
While FBI Director Kash Patel described the incident as a “targeted terror attack”, Redfearn stressed it was too soon to speculate about a motive.
“We are not calling it a terror attack at this moment,” Redfearn said. “This was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in downtown Boulder on Pearl Street and this act was unacceptable,” he said. “I ask that you join me in thinking about the victims, the families of those victims, and everyone involved in this tragedy.”
He said some of the victims’ injuries were consistent with burns.
Attack Follows Fatal Shooting
The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the United States over Israel’s war in Gaza, which has spurred both an increase in antisemitic hate crime as well as moves by conservative supporters of Israel led by President Donald Trump to brand pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic. His administration has detained protesters of the war without charge and cut off funding to elite US universities that have permitted such demonstrations.
The attack follows the arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington, DC. Someone opened fire on a group of people leaving an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group that fights antisemitism and supports Israel.
The shooting fueled polarization in the United States over the war in Gaza between supporters of Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
‘Heartbroken’
“We are saddened and heartbroken to learn that an incendiary device was thrown at walkers at the Run for Their Lives walk on Pearl Street as they were raising awareness for the hostages still held in Gaza,” a statement attributed to Boulder’s Jewish Community said.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis posted on social media that he was closely monitoring the situation, adding that “hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable”.
Redfearn said he was not able to identify the suspect yet, noting that he had been taken to hospital. He added there were multiple injuries among the victims, ranging “from very serious to more minor.”
(With inputs from Reuters)
