A man was arrested on Tuesday after he broke into the Colorado Supreme Court in Denver overnight and opened fire inside the building, causing “extensive damage,” Colorado State Police said.
In a statement, Colorado State Police said the incident began around 1 a.m. when two vehicles collided in the city, and one of the involved parties pointed a gun at the other driver.
According to the statement, the gunman then fired at a window of the Colorado Supreme Court and entered the building, where he held an unarmed security guard at gunpoint.
While officers from the Denver Police Department (DPD) and the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) established a perimeter in the area, the individual (with the guard’s keys) made his way to other courtrooms and fired additional shots before calling 911 and voluntarily surrendering.
The suspect was transferred to a local hospital for medical treatment. According to the same police statement, no injuries were reported either to building staff or security, nor to the assailant.
This raid comes two weeks after the court declared former US President Donald Trump ineligible for the White House for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The court cited the 14th Amendment, which bars those who have participated in an insurrection from holding elected office.
Following in Colorado’s footsteps, the state of Maine also disqualified Trump as a candidate, putting more pressure on the US Supreme Court to rule on the issue just weeks before the campaign begins.
The DPD and CSP said they are taking Tuesday’s development “seriously,” yet it is not believed to be related to the threats Colorado Supreme Court justices received for deciding to remove Trump from the state’s 2024 presidential ballot.
By Mian Saeed Ahmed khan
