To neighbors, Mohamed Soliman was a quiet father of five who drove for Uber and watched his children play and ride bikes in his yard.
That perception changed on Sunday night when FBI agents woke up the street by swarming his two-bedroom home in Colorado Springs while executing a search warrant.
Soliman, 45, had been arrested 100 miles away in Boulder, accused of attacking up to eight participants of a the group Run for Their Lives, during a walk in solidarity with hostages held by Hamas.
He now faces attempted murder and federal hate crime charges for the horrifying attack with a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails while reportedly shouting ‘Free Palestine’.
Twelve victims including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor were burned in the second high-profile attack on Jews in the United States in two weeks.
The Department of Homeland Security has since confirmed that Soliman is in the country illegally, and the FBI was quick to declare it a terrorist attack.
He is Egyptian and moved to America in August 2022 on a visa that expired the following February, a source told the Daily Mail.
To neighbors, Mohamed Soliman was a quiet father of five who drove for Uber and watched his children play in the street outside his Colorado Springs home (pictured above)
It is understood that he left a job in the accounts department of healthcare company Veros Health in 2023 and started delivering food for Uber the same year.
Soliman began driving for the ride-share firm nine months ago and was still picking up passengers until his arrest.
He had lived a quiet family existence with his wife, their teenage son, teenage daughter, nine-year-old girl and younger twins.
But the FBI claims Soliman was planning the attack for a year, and waited until his daughter graduated high school to carry it out.
Neighbors expressed disbelief over the allegations against Soliman, whose yard was littered with children’s bikes and toys.
Stunned residents of the street have told the Daily Mail that there were no signs that Soliman – or his family – were ‘radicalists’. The Solimans seemed, they said, like ‘normal people’.
Shameka Pruiett, who lives two doors down from the family, said her daughter would often play with their nine-year-old.
She added that she would often see the mother – whose name she didn’t know – loading the four children into a blue minivan.
‘They got up, took their kids to school. We knew Mohamed,’ she said.
‘He took care of his kids. You’d see him out playing with his kids and taking the trash back and forth,’ she said. ‘He was a father… a husband.
‘They were a Muslim family but they were not radicalists,’ she said. ‘They didn’t put their beliefs on anybody or any of that.’
Soliman faces attempted murder and federal hate crime charges for the horrifying attack in Boulder with a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails while reportedly shouting ‘Free Palestine’
Prosecutors have identified the attacker as Mohamed Sabry Soliman, a 45-year-old migrant from Egypt. A photo shows the aftermath of the rampage
Pruiett first heard about the attack on Sunday through social media – but had never previously known the Solimans’ last name.
When she saw the suspect’s picture, she thought: ‘It just seemed like there was something really bothering him. That’s not [like] the guy that walks through this neighborhood.’
Authorities arrived Sunday evening at Soliman’s address and gave three warnings for occupants to leave – with no answer, Pruiett said.
They then gained entry using what looked like a cinder block: ‘You could hear the vibrations,’ she said.
Soliman’s wife was known for making food to take to neighbors, including a new Jewish family that moved in across the street.
Their teenage son would casually play ball with a 13-year-old neighbor, Dylin.
He told the Daily Mail that the Solimans’ son said he’d be moving to Michigan to stay with family and finish high school.
Dylin’s sister, Katie Carlson, 28, told the Daily Mail: ‘They’ve been, from what we’ve seen, really respectful, polite.’
The Solimans arrived around two years ago to the community filled with ‘working’ and ‘peaceful’ neighbors.
The neighborhood abuts a sprawling park with a playground and beautiful mountain views.
Soliman confessed to the attack after being taken into custody Sunday and told police he would do it again, according to an affidavit seen by the Daily Mail.
He also said he ‘wanted to kill all Zionist people’, ‘wished they were all dead’ and told investigators he had researched the attack for up to 12 months, according to a chilling update from the Department of Justice on Monday.
‘He stated that he had been planning the attack for a year and was waiting until after his daughter graduated to conduct the attack,’ the affidavit said.
Soliman constructed homemade Molotov cocktails after doing research on YouTube and buying the ingredients.
He drove to Boulder with the devices in his car and stopped along the way for gas, the complaint said.
Law enforcement found more than a dozen unlit Molotov cocktails near where Soliman was arrested.
The devices were made of glass wine carafe bottles or jars with clear liquid and red rags hanging out of them, the FBI said.
Inside his car, law enforcement found papers with the words ‘Israel,’ ‘Palestine’ and ‘USAID’, the affidavit said.
Uber confirmed on Monday that Soliman was one of its drivers.
The rideshare company told the Daily Mail that Soliman had met all legal requirements and it had received no concerning feedback from passengers.
Eight victims between the ages of 52 and 88, including a Holocaust survivor, were burned in the second high-profile attack on Jews in the United States in two weeks
Members of a law enforcement tactical team get in place after the horrifying incident in downtown Boulder, Colorado, on Sunday
After his arrest, his driver’s account was banned and Uber is cooperating with law enforcement.
President Donald Trump condemned the attack on Monday and blamed the Biden administration.
In a Truth Social post, he vowed revenge for the ‘horrific’ attack, saying acts of terror will ‘not be tolerated in the US’.
He promised that Soliman will be ‘prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law’ – while also blaming Joe Biden’s ‘ridiculous open border’ immigration policies for contributing to the attack.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt branded the attack an act of ‘despicable evil’ on Monday.
Soliman lived with his family in Colorado Springs. He was actively driving for Uber before his arrest. A discarded bike sits outside the home
She told Fox News that the tragedy ‘absolutely is an act of targeted terrorism’ and echoed President Trump’s promise for revenge.
‘The president is going to ensure that this individual is held to the fullest extent of the law, and not just this individual, but any individual, especially illegal criminals, who engage in acts of terrorism, will be held accountable under this president,’ she said.
Leavitt also warned that entering the US is a ‘privilege, not a right’ and said officials ‘are not going to allow people who are pushing anti-American values and especially engaging in acts of violence to remain in our country’.
‘Your visa will be revoked, and you will be deported,’ she added.
Meanwhile on Soliman’s street, neighbors tried reconcile the details emerging with the man they lived beside.
Pruiett said she just kept thinking about ‘the kids, the kids, the kids … and his wife
