A man shot through a window and broke into the Colorado Supreme Court building early Tuesday morning and caused "significant and extensive" damage in several areas of the building before surrendering to police, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
The man was involved in a crash about 1:15 a.m. near 13th Avenue and Lincoln Street a short time before he forced his way into the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, which houses the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals and several other state agencies, according to a Colorado State Patrol news release.
This comes two weeks to the day after the state Supreme Court ruled Donald Trump cannot appear on the state's primary ballot based on his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach and riot by his supporters.
Police were investigating threats made to the Supreme Court justices in the week after the ruling and increased patrols around their Denver homes following at least one "hoax report," the Associated Press reported.
CSP said in its news release Tuesday that the law enforcement is "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."
After the crash Tuesday morning, in which the man allegedly pointed a handgun at the other driver involved, the man held an unarmed CSP Capitol Security Unit guard at gunpoint and took their keys, according to the CSP.
The man accessed an unknown number of floors, then made his way to the seventh floor and fired additional shots inside the building.
Denver police officers and CSP troopers set up a perimeter around the building, and the man fired at police, Denver7 reported. Police did not fire back.
The man called 911 around 3 a.m. and voluntarily surrendered to police, according to the CSP.
Neither the man nor any building occupants or police were injured during the incident. The Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center will remain closed on Tuesday, state judicial officials announced.
Police have not yet publicly identified the suspect.
The Denver Police Department is leading the investigation.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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