Community brings flowers, prayers to scene less than 24-hours after attack in Boulder
DENVER (KDVR) — The scene of an attack in Boulder that injured several people, including a Holocaust survivor, was decorated with flowers and flags placed by members of the community the next day.
An area of the Pearl Street Mall was blocked off with crime scene tape Sunday after a man reportedly threw incendiary devices into a group of people, injuring a total of 12.
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Witnesses described the 'chaos' that ensued as they were dining and walking through the mall that afternoon. The area was blocked off for several hours as investigators were on the scene and reopened around midnight.
Since the attack, members of the community have come by placing flags, leaving flowers and hugging one another at the scene.
'The people going to those walks are you and me,' said Omer Shachar, co-leader of Run For Their Lives Boulder. 'All ages, kids, the elderly, just volunteers. This is what we do in our weekend to raise the awareness and share the voice of the hostages that currently cannot speak. And when we got here to the courthouse, this man waited for us with the gasoline, with Molotov cocktails and threw at us as we were getting here to take some pictures.'
The Run for Their Lives organization hosts global running and walking events where local communities meet to call 'for the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas,' according to the website. The city of Boulder said it was a weekly peaceful event.
'People ask, 'Are you OK?'' walk participant Ed Victor said. 'Yes, I'm OK. But then you take another breath and you're like, it's sadness.'
FOX31 was at the scene on Monday morning and saw some members of the community bringing flowers while others continued with their business and daily routines.
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David Zalubowski with The Associated Press captured photos at the scene where people joined hands in prayer for the victims and left bouquets of flowers on a barrier outside of the courthouse where the attack took place.
Some volunteers with Run for Their Lives were at the scene Monday.
Victor witnessed the attack and spoke with FOX31's Nicole Fierro on Monday about what he saw. Several people were hurt, including a woman who Victor said was a Holocaust survivor.
'Suddenly, it's like, I believe I heard a crash. I felt a lot of heat. I turned to a flame and someone was on fire,' he said. 'We saw the banners, saw our flags, and we're just trying to get this fire out as soon as we could. It took one or two minutes. It felt way too long to get this fire out. Once she was on the ground, my friend, who has more medical experience than I do, took care of her. I was then with her husband who was burned on to the leg and was just there to comfort him.'
He and several others jumped in to help, using flags and banners to put out the flames.
'She's an amazing, wonderful woman. When she gives her talks, I always want to be there because she has such energy,' he said. 'I was in the ambulance with her, just talking with her before she was taken to the hospital.'
Witnesses describe 'terrifying' scene of attack at Pearl Street Mall in Boulder
'Whether it's happened to us or anyone else. It's just a support. That's not what's been happening in Boulder, United States, surrounding. It's not OK, and not OK-ness is what causes this. And so when community comes together, this kind of thing doesn't happen.'
Victor said two other victims were a couple who had been married for 58 years.
Boulder City Council Member Tara Weiner told FOX31 that she knows the victims.
'They're my close friends. I go on that walk sometimes. I mean, it could have been me, you know,' she said.
As of Monday afternoon, each of the victims is alive. A co-organizer for Run For Their Lives told FOX31 that the group is looking into security options and hopes to walk again on Sunday, as they want to continue to walk until all hostages are released.
'I'm pretty sure that people here are determined to continue walking,' Shachar said. 'I personally will keep walk, until the last hostage will come back home.'
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