Man broke into Colorado Supreme Court and opened fire, causing ‘extensive damage’
Police say the shooting is unrelated to the slew of threats levelled against the Colorado Supreme Court justices who voted to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot
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An unnamed man was arrested after he broke into the Colorado Supreme Court building and fired gunshots early Tuesday morning, according to a statement from state police.
There is “significant and extensive damage” to the building after the 2 January break-in, police said, but there were no injuries to the suspect, building occupants, or responders. Authorities there is a “high probability” the break-in “is not associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices.”
Last month, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that former President Donald Trump would be ineligible to appear on the 2024 ballot under the 14th Amendment. Within hours of that announcement, Trump supporters began making threats against justices — which both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Denver Police Department are investigating.
Tuesday’s incident began around 1.15am, when the suspect was involved in a car crash and pointed a handgun at the other person involved, police said. The suspect then made his way to the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, which houses the state supreme court. The suspect first shot at a window, police said, before holding a security guard at gunpoint and demanding entry.
He took the unarmed guard’s keys and accessed “accessed an unknown number of floors,” authorities said.
Around 3am local time, the suspect called 911 and surrendered himself to police. Authorities transferred the suspect to a local hospital “to be cleared by medical personnel,” according to the statement.