Multiple people were burned, some severely, in an attack on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall during a vigil that called on Hamas to release Israeli hostages.

The FBI director characterized the incident as a “targeted terror attack,” although Boulder police said it was too early in the investigation to confirm a motive in a briefing.

One person, an unidentified man whom bystanders pointed out to police officers, was arrested, Boulder police Chief Steve Redfearn said. He said investigators are working to identify the suspect.

The Anti-Defamation League said on social media that it was aware of an attack on an event called Boulder Run for Their Lives — which it said was “a weekly meeting of Jewish community members to run/walk in support of the hostages kidnapped on 10/7,” a reference to Hamas’ large-scale attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Several people were injured in the attack, which occurred near the Boulder County Historic Courthouse at Pearl and 13th streets in downtown, the Boulder Police Department said on social media.

Redfearn was unable to specify the number of people who were hurt, but said in a Sunday afternoon news briefing that the extent of their injuries ranged from minor to life-threatening.

FBI Director Kash Patel said on social media that federal agents were on scene working with local law enforcement.

But Redfearn disagreed with the FBI’s classification of the attack as a “targeted terror attack.”

“Once we have a clear motive, we will react accordingly,” he said, noting it was too early in the investigation to confirm a motive. “If that motive was a group was targeted, we will absolutely step up and ensure that additional security, additional presence. We want people to feel safe.”

The attack happened just before 1:30 p.m. Sunday outside of the courthouse, Redfearn said. Multiple callers reported a man with a weapon and people being set on fire.

Investigators were aware of a pro-Israel demonstration in the area, but they haven’t been able to confirm if that group was targeted, Redfearn said.

Lynn Segal, who witnessed the attack, said she knows one of the victims and described her as an elderly woman.

“It was like this fireball … it’s almost like it was a gun of fire,” Segal said. “It’s like a line of fire. It was coming from (my) right.”

Segal said she’s pro-Palestinian but regularly joins the weekly demonstrations with Israeli supporters in a show of solidarity for the release of hostages.

Alexandra Posnack, 19, was at her Boulder home about five minutes away from Pearl Street when friends at the scene started texting her that someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail at them.

The group that was attacked is part of a weekly demonstration in support of releasing all hostages being held by Hamas in the Israel-Hamas war, Posnack said.

“I’m horrified and I’m also enraged, and I will be back here next week to protest with my big-ass Israeli flag,” she said.

Terror supporters mean to instill fear, but Posnack said she refuses to let that happen.

“(Jews) can’t afford to be scared,” she said.

Boulder resident Henry Bonn-Elchones, 18, was downtown getting lunch with friends when he saw smoke and burn marks and an Israeli flag on the ground by the courthouse.

He never heard an explosion, but a few minutes later Bonn-Elchones saw agents from the FBI, CIA, National Guard and Army flood Pearl Street, he said.

He saw two older women being loaded into ambulances but they didn’t appear to have serious injuries, he said.

He wasn’t forced away from the scene, but police “strongly encouraged” him and his friends to leave.

Bonn-Elchones was 13 when a gunman killed 10 people at a Boulder King Soopers and recalled the mass shooting as he stood a few feet away from crime-scene tape and flashing police lights.

“It’s crazy that Boulder seems to be going through a lot of trouble right now,” he said.

Gov. Jared Polis characterized the Boulder incident as a “heinous act of terror.”

“Hate-filled acts of any kind are unacceptable,” Polis said in a statement on social media. “While details emerge, the state works with local and federal law enforcement to support this investigation.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser wrote in a statement that the attack appears to be a hate crime and that he had offered his office’s support to Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty.

“People may have differing views about world events and the Israeli-Hamas conflict, but violence is never the answer to settling differences,” he wrote. “… We all have the right to peaceably assemble and the freedom to speak our views. But these violent acts—which are becoming more frequent, brazen, and closer to home—must stop and those who commit these horrific acts must be fully held to account.”

Parts of Pearl Street, including the 1200 through 1500 blocks, were evacuated Sunday, according to the police department. The evacuated area runs from Pine Street to the north, 16th Street to the east, Walnut Street to the south and Broadway to the west.

That section of the mall remained closed to the public as police clear the area and investigate a “vehicle of interest,” Redfearn said.

_____

©2025 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at denverpost.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.