A man was arrested Tuesday morning after breaking into the Colorado Supreme Court building in downtown Denver and then holding a security guard at gunpoint.
The man, who was identified as 44-year-old Brandon Olsen, also fired shots into and inside of the building and set a fire in a stairwell, but no one was injured, authorities said.
The Colorado State Patrol said it and the Denver Police Department “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 in a news release.
The agency issued a follow up bulletin midmorning Tuesday saying “preliminary investigations confirmed a high probability the incident … is NOT associated to the recent threats against the Colorado Supreme Court justices.” Neither the State Patrol or Denver police elaborated on why they believe the incident was unrelated to the threats.
Olsen was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and then arrested on suspicion of robbery, burglary and arson, Denver police said Tuesday afternoon.
The Colorado Supreme Court last month blocked Donald Trump from appearing on Colorado’s 2024 Republican presidential primary ballot after finding that he is disqualified from running for office again because he violated the so-called “insurrection clause” in the U.S. Constitution. The court has faced threats after issuing the decision.
The ruling has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Barring a resolution before Jan. 5, when the March 5 primary ballot must be set, Trump will still appear on the ballot.
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The situation at the Colorado Supreme Court building began at about 1:15 a.m. when Olsen was involved in a two-vehicle crash at the nearby intersection of East 13th Avenue and Lincoln Street, during which he allegedly pointed a handgun at another driver.
Soon after, the Colorado State Patrol says, Olsen shot out a window on the east side of the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, which is where the Colorado Supreme Court, Colorado Court of Appeals and Colorado Attorney General’s Office are housed.
“The individual entered the building and came in contact with an unarmed security guard from the Colorado State Patrol Capitol Security Unit,” the Colorado State Patrol said in its news release. “The individual held the security guard at gunpoint and demanded access to other parts of the building.”
Authorities say Olsen took keys from the guard and traveled to other parts of the building, accessing “an unknown number of floors.”
“Denver Police Department officers, as well as Colorado State Patrol troopers, responded to the scene and set up a perimeter,” the news release said. “The suspect then made his way to the seventh floor, where he fired additional shots inside the building. At approximately 3 a.m., the suspect called 911 and voluntarily surrendered to police.”
The Denver Police Department said there was “extensive” damage to the Colorado Supreme Court building, but didn’t elaborate.
Colorado Sun staff writer Olivia Prentzel contributed to this report.