An armed man broke into the building that houses the Colorado Supreme Court in Denver, Colorado early Tuesday morning and opened fire inside before surrendering to police, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The incident resulted in “significant and extensive damage” to the building, the agency said in a press release. Authorities don’t believe it’s linked to previous threats made to Colorado Supreme Court justices, the release said.
The ordeal began around 1:15 a.m. local time, the suspect was involved in a two-vehicle crash and pointed a handgun at the other driver, the press release said. Shortly after, the man shot out a window outside of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, which is where the Colorado Supreme Court, Colorado Court of Appeals and other legal and judicial agencies operate.
The suspect entered the building and encountered an unarmed security guard, the press release said.
“The individual held the security guard at gunpoint and demanded access to other parts of the building,” Colorado State Patrol said. “The individual obtained keys from the security guard and proceeded into other parts of the building and accessed an unknown number of floors.”
Officers with the Denver Police Department and Colorado State Patrol troopers responded to the scene and set up a perimeter. The suspect then went to the 7th floor of the building where he fired more shots.
“At approximately 3:00 a.m., the suspect called 911 and voluntarily surrendered to police,” Colorado State Patrol said. “He was placed in custody without further incident. There are no injuries to building occupants, the suspect, or police personnel.”
The suspect was taken to a local hospital to be examined by medical personnel.
Colorado’s Supreme Court justices have received a flood of threats since they ruled that former President Donald Trump is ineligible to appear on the state’s Republican primary ballot as a presidential candidate.
The FBI said in December that it was working to address and investigate the threats, with a spokesperson saying in a statement that the bureau would “pursue investigations of any threat or use of violence committed by someone who uses extremist views to justify their actions regardless of motivation.”
The state’s high court, which is composed of seven justices, was closed on Tuesday, according to its website.
The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
