DENVER — A man shot through a window and broke into the Colorado Supreme Court building early Tuesday, causing “significant and extensive” damage in several areas of the building before surrendering to police, authorities said.
Brandon Olsen, 44, faces charges of arson, robbery and burglary in connection with the incident, according to the Denver Police Department. He is accused of holding a security guard at gunpoint and starting a fire on the seventh floor of the building.
The incident happened two weeks to the day after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Donald Trump could not appear on the state’s primary ballot based on his actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach and the riot by his supporters. Colorado State Patrol officials said in a news release that Tuesday’s incident is not believed to be “associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court justices.”
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.
Tuesday’s incident began when Olsen was involved in a car crash at about 1:15 a.m. near 13th Avenue and Lincoln Street, outside the Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, according to an affidavit provided by Denver police. Olsen grabbed a pistol from the back seat of his vehicle and ran from the crash, according to the affidavit.
Police said he then shot through a first-floor window of the judicial center, which houses the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado Court of Appeals and several other state agencies, and forced his way inside.
An unarmed security guard with Colorado State Patrol’s Capitol Security Unit went to investigate the noise of the break-in and encountered Olsen as the man tried to kick open an interior door, according to the affidavit.