Colorado suspect to be charged with attempted murder, hate crime; number of injured up to 12

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, the suspect in a firebombing of a hostages march in Colorado yesterday, will be charged with state and federal charges and facing life in prison if convicted, officials say.

Acting US Attorney J. Bishop Grewell says at a press conference that Soliman, 45, is being charged with the commission of a hate crime, a federal crime which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison when coupled with attempted murder charges he will face from Colorado.

According to Grewell, Soliman attempted to buy a firearm to carry out the attack, but resorted to homemade incendiary devices when he could not acquire a firearm because he is not a US citizen.

Boulder county district attorney Michael Dougherty says the state will charge Soliman with 16 counts of attempted murder in the first degree — eight for attempted murder with intent, and eight for attempted murder with extreme indifference. If convicted, and the sentences run consecutively, the maximum sentence is 384 years in state prison.

Soliman will also be charged with two counts of use of an incendiary device, carrying a maximum sentence of 48 years, and 16 counts of attempted use of an incendiary device, with a maximum sentence of 192 years. Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails at the demonstrators, and investigators recovered 16 unused Molotov cocktails from the scene of the attack.

Other charges may be forthcoming, Grewell says.

Dougherty says police have identified four more victims of the attack, bringing the total to 12. The four additional victims suffered minor injuries and came forward to investigators after the initial incident.

The authorities say Soliman was not “on our radar” before the attack. Investigators are working to put together a timeline of the attack using surveillance footage and license plate readers.