An armed man was arrested early Tuesday after breaking in to the Colorado Supreme Court before it opened, firing a weapon, holding a security guard at gunpoint and starting a small fire, authorities said. No injuries were reported.
The Colorado State Patrol said a preliminary investigation showed “a high probability” the break-in wasn’t related to earlier threats against the justices, who ruled last month to
The Denver Police Department identified the suspect as Brandon Olsen, 44. No hometown was provided.
According a state patrol press release, the suspect was involved in a car accident near the Ralph L. Carr Judicial Center in downtown Denver shortly after 1 a.m., allegedly pointed his gun at the other driver and then shot out a window of the courthouse.
He held an unarmed court security guard at gunpoint, took his keys and fired additional shots inside the building, causing “significant and extensive damage,” the state patrol said. A separate press release from Denver police said the man went to the seventh floor and started a fire in a stairwell.
The blaze was contained by the building’s sprinkler system, but “it’s my understanding that water damage was extensive,” Jon Sarché, spokesman for the Colorado Judicial Department, said in an email.
Investigators “are treating this incident seriously, but at this time, it is believed that this is not associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices,” the state patrol said.
The building is located near the state capitol.
(Updates with suspect identity, details on damage)
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Steve Stroth, Peter Jeffrey
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