A man was arrested just after the New Year for breaking into the Colorado Supreme Court building and opening fire. The incident comes after the court’s recent ruling to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential primary ballot.
Authorities say the break-in was most likely not in relation to the ruling but… this act of violence has an eerie similarity to what happened the last time Trump had an election-related conflict...
Tuesday morning, the Denver Police Department says a shooting began after two cars crashed outside the judicial center. The suspect, identified as 44-year-old Brandon Olsen, grabbed a handgun and fled the scene. The department said he shot the window of the side of the judicial center and broke into the building. As DPD approached the building, Olsen fired additional shots. The police said it was unclear what his target was.
Then, he encountered a security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit who saw Olsen trying to kick open a storage room door. However, the guard wasn’t armed.
Read what happened next from Colorado Public Radio:
After the security guard offered to unlock the door, Olsen pointed the handgun at him and took his keys.
“The individual held the security guard at gunpoint and demanded access to other parts of the building. The individual obtained keys from the security guard and proceeded into other parts of the building and accessed an unknown number of floors,” the Colorado State Patrol said.
Olsen made his way to the seventh floor, where he fired additional shots, though it’s not clear what he shot at, if anything. At 3 a.m., he called 911. He then walked outside and voluntarily surrendered to police. Officers say Olsen appeared to have set a fire on the seventh floor of the building, which set off a fire alarm.
After he was cleared by doctors at the Denver Health Medical Center, the suspect was taken into DPD custody. He’s under investigation for robbery, burglary and arson but the Denver District Attorney’s Office will ultimately make the decision to hand him charges.
Just prior to this, justices on the court had received death threats after their decision to remove Trump from the primary ballot. Part of their decision was based on his role in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., which was a result of Trump losing his second bid for the White House to current President Joe Biden resulting in a breach, political officials being targeted and also, shots fired.