The suspect in Sunday’s antisemitic terror attack in Colorado hoped to pull off a mass shooting, but his immigration status prevented him from buying a gun — and he now faces up to 624 years behind bars if convicted in the horror, officials said Monday.
Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, admitted to a detective that he initially planned on gunning down his victims, even taking a concealed-carry class where he learned how to fire a weapon, authorities said.
But the Egyptian national was blocked from purchasing the weapon because his US visa had expired, Judicial District Attorney Michael Dougherty said at a press conference Monday afternoon in Boulder.
Soliman appeared in Denver court for a brief appearance Monday afternoon dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit with white bandages wrapped around his head.
He responded yes when asked by the judge whether he understood the orders of protection against him involving the 12 victims.
Authorities said they increased their initial victims count from eight when four witnesses later came forward and had also minor wounds from the attack.
Two of the 12 people hurt are still hospitalized, including one in critical condition.
Dougherty said Soliman is facing 16 attempted murder charges for the attacks against the victims — for which he could land up to 384 years in prison if convicted.
Soliman is also facing a sentence of 48 years for using two Molotov cocktails, and 192 years for “attempted use” of the 16 unused incendiary devices investigators found near where he was arrested, officials said. He was also hit with federal hate crime charges.
Mark Michalek, the FBI special agent in charge in Denver, said that while it appears Soliman acted alone in the attack, officials are still investigating all possibilities and pursuing all investigative leads.
“If we uncover evidence that others knew of this attack or supported the subject in this attack, rest assured that we will aggressively move to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Michalek said.
The suspect was not on the feds’ radar before Sunday’s attack, authorities said.
According to court documents, Soliman stalked and targeted a local pro-Israel walking group, Run For Their Lives, which has organized weekly strolls in solidarity with Israeli hostages being held by Hamas since the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attacks.
He told investigators he wanted to “kill all Zionist people” and “wished they were all dead.” He said he found out about the group — including the stops on their latest walk event — on their Facebook page and set himself up to ambush them on Boulder’s highly trafficked Pearl Street.
He used an improvised flamethrower device he fashioned from a garden hose full of 87 octane gasoline and a lighter in the fiery attack, as well as lobbing two Molotov cocktails.
His arrest warrant states he believed he would die in the attacks, telling detectives “several times” that “he wanted to be dead” in interviews, the warrant said.
Soliman, a father of five who lived in Colorado Springs — around 100 miles south of Boulder — left notes for his family hidden in a desk drawer at their house. His relatives are cooperating, authorities said.
The suspect is originally from Egypt but spent 17 years in Kuwait, officials said.
He moved to Colorado Springs in 2022, after entering the US through California on a tourist visa.
His next court date is Thursday.
