No Link to Trump Case in Gunman’s Attack on Colorado Supreme Court Building, Police Say

Colorado’s justices have received threats ever since they ruled 4-3 last month that a rarely-used constitutional provision barring from office those who ‘engaged in insurrection’ applies to the former president.

AP/Colleen Slevin
Police tape blocks damage to large windows at the Colorado Supreme Court at Denver on January 2, 2024. AP/Colleen Slevin

DENVER — A man leaving the scene of a car wreck Tuesday shot his way into the Colorado Supreme Court building and inflicted “extensive damage” to the building before being arrested by police, authorities said, adding the incident seems unrelated to the court’s recent ruling banning President Trump from the state’s primary ballot.

Colorado’s justices have received threats ever since they ruled 4-3 last month that a rarely-used constitutional provision barring from office those who “engaged in insurrection” applies to Mr. Trump. Authorities, however, said Tuesday’s incident appears unrelated to that case. Mr. Trump is expected to appeal that ruling to the United States Supreme Court later Tuesday.

The Colorado State Patrol said in a statement that the agency, along with 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 car wreck occurred just by the building at downtown Denver at 1:15 a.m., after which one driver pointed a handgun at the other, according to the statement from state patrol, which oversees security at the building. The gunman then shot his way through a window at the Supreme Court building shortly thereafter and entered, authorities said.

The statement did not identify the gunman, but said he held up an unarmed security guard and got a key that let him into the rest of the building. He made his way to the seventh floor, where he fired further shots and then called 911 at 3 a.m.

The gunman voluntarily surrendered to police and there were no injuries to other people, the statement says.

Several hours after the crash a large shattered window could be seen on the ground floor of the building, with glass spilled out on the sidewalk along a busy street downtown. A state patrol trooper guarded it.


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