118 charges were filed against Mohamed Sabry Soliman on June 5 for the attack in Boulder that occurred on June 1. The charges include attempted murder in the first degree for 14 of the 15 human victims. 20th Judicial District Attorney Michael Dougherty said that “each one of those counts carries a sentence of 16 to 48 years... which comes to 672 years. That’s not including the assault charges or the use of an incendiary device or the other assault charge."
Dougherty explained that there are two different theories of attempted murder that Soliman was charged with for 14 victims. One is considered intent to murder and the other is considered “extreme indifference.” “The basic definition of that means to act with universal malice that creates grave risk of death to others,” Dougherty said.
Soliman’s next hearing for the state level charges will be on July 15. This will be a preliminary hearing with testimonies from witnesses to determine if there is enough evidence for the prosecution to move forward. Dougherty stressed that the suspect is innocent until proven guilty and will be given a fair trial. In addition to the state-level charges, Soliman has been charged with a hate crime by The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
62 counts are directly related to the 15 human victims and dog.
“For crimes that are classified as a crime of violence, in Colorado, we need to add a count explaining that it's a crime of violence,” Dougherty said. The rest of the 56 charges are the violent crime classification that aren’t directly tied to the victims. Dougherty said during Thursday’s press conference that there are still three victims hospitalized.
The Boulder Jewish Festival will be happening this Sunday, June 8, and Police Chief Steven Redfearn assured the public that there will be extra security measures to prevent violent, criminal activity. "We are bringing in SWAT elements, we will have drones, we will have a lot of people there,” Redfearn said. “I want [any would-be attacker] to see that we have a lot of people there, and hopefully that dissuades anyone from doing anything nefarious."
The City of Boulder has created a webpage for updates specific to the attack and Soliman’s case, including a full timeline of events from Sunday’s attack. The first 911 call was received at 1:26 p.m. and units were dispatched 50 seconds later. The Fire Battalion Chief arrived on scene at 1:31 p.m., five minutes after the initial call, and the first ambulance arrived on the scene two minutes later.
