US: Man breaks into Colorado Supreme Court, fires shots, holds guard at gunpoint`

Police in the western US state of Colorado said on Tuesday that a man broke into the Supreme Court building overnight, firing multiple bullets and briefly holding a security guard at gunpoint before being taken into custody.

The Colorado State Patrol (CSP) stated that it did not think the incident had anything to do with the high court’s recent decision to prevent Donald Trump from running in the state’s presidential primary.

The individual, who remained nameless, was engaged in a nearby car crash and had pointed a gun at the other motorist, according to a statement from the CSP.

Later, he forced an unarmed security guard to surrender at gunpoint as he broke out a window in the Denver building housing the Colorado Supreme Court.

According to the CSP, the man moved to the building’s seventh storey and fired more bullets there.

About two hours later, he turned himself in to the police without any problems.

“There is significant and extensive damage to the building and the investigation is ongoing,” the CSP said. “There are no injuries to building occupants, the suspect, or police personnel.

“At this time, it is believed that this is not associated with previous threats to the Colorado Supreme Court Justices,” it added.

The Colorado Supreme Court decided this month that Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is not qualified to be president of the United States due to his involvement in his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The ruling has been challenged to the US Supreme Court by the Colorado Republican Party.

Additionally, Trump has been barred from Maine’s Republican presidential primary ballot by the state’s top election commissioner.

(With agency inputs)