Live updates: Advocates for Israeli hostages hurt in Colorado fire attack
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FBI Director Kash Patel called the incident 'a targeted terror attack" on X. Law enforcement officials dress in protective gear to investigate after an attack on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday. David Zalubowski / AP Updated June 1, 2025, 7:26 PM EDT
Brooke Coffman was walking down Pearl Street on her lunch break today when she saw a commotion near the courthouse. Worried someone was 'getting beat up,' she approached the area.
Then, 'I saw this big fire go up,' Coffman told NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver. Coffman said she called 911 as she rushed toward the fiery scene.
She said she saw two women 'rolling around a little bit' in their underwear after having strippedout of their burning clothes with 'really bad burns all up on their legs.' Another woman nearby, also with burns on her legs, was screaming.
Coffman could barely make out the face of one of the women, she said, choking up, adding the woman's hair was burned off.
'It just wasn't a good scene,' Coffman said.
Others nearby rushed to the scene with jugs of water, dousing the victims, Coffman said. She said that she saw at least seven people down, mostly older women, but that she heard there were more victims, including children.
She said she saw a shirtless man screaming while he waved a glass bottle that contained a liquid.
'I know it's Boulder, it's Pearl Street, some stuff happens ... but you just don't really think it's going to happen right here, you don't think it's something you're going to see, so many people hurt," Coffman said.
FBI Director Kash Patel the incident a 'targeted terror attack' on X as agents were on the scene assisting local police with the investigation.
Dan Bongino, the FBI's deputy director, echoed Patel's assessment, saying on X: 'We are investigating this incident as an act of terror, and targeted violence. All of the necessary assets will be dedicated to this investigation.'
Multiple people were injured when an attacker used a weapon to set people on fire during a regular demonstration in Boulder, Colorado, to buoy awareness of hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza.
The group Run for Their Lives — Boulder has been holding the demonstrations fairly regularly, sometimes weekly, since Thanksgiving 2023, following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
Boulder Police Chief Stephen Redfearn said a suspect was in custody following the afternoon violence and had suffered minor injuries that required hospitalizations.
Read the full story here.
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