Posted on 07/16/2007 2:41:05 PM PDT by NorCoGOP
State troopers shot and killed an unknown man who attempted to enter Gov. Bill Ritter's office inside the state Capitol this afternoon.
The man, who claimed he was "the emperor," said he was going to take over the state government.
Ritter was in his office at the time but was not involved in the shooting at about 2:25 p.m. today.
State troopers, who provide security inside the statehouse, ordered the man to drop his gun. He didn't and they shot him. The man died where he fell.
"He said that he was the emperor and he was here to take over state government," said Gov. Ritter's spokesman, Evan Dreyer.
The man's identity has not been released. Neither Ritter nor anyone else was injured, Dreyer said.
The state Capitol is currently on lockdown while police investigate. Gov. Ritter has remained in the building, Dreyer said, who called the Capitol "a very safe building."
"Gov. Ritter has a very healthy security force around him at all times," Dreyer said.
The governor's office, near the front entrance, is closed for renovations. The governor has been using offices on the north end of the first floor, near the Lt. Governor's office, and was there when the man entered the Capitol. Dreyer said he was in his office at the south end of the first floor and did not witness the shooting.
Art Mendoza, 44, and his wife Rosa Moreno, 28, both of Los Angeles, were touring the Capitol. They were on the second floor when they heard three shots fired. Rosa looked down and saw a person falling to the ground.
Moreno said that when she first heard the shots, she thought it was staged for the tour. Then she looked toward the sound.
"I saw the back of the guy as he fell down," Moreno said. "I just saw him drop."
A group of people on a tour of the capitol building saw a man in a tuxedo kneeling in the hallway praying. A few minutes later, they heard someone yell "You're going to pay for this, you (expletive)."
The group of 12 to 20 people then heard gunshots and afterward many of them were in tears. Some of them were crouched on the floor hugging each other. Denver police have responded to the scene, as have Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
At a press conference shortly after the shooting, Master Trooper Ron Watkins said five troopers responded to a call from the govenor's office. He said he did not know how many troopers were involved in the shooting.
Rep. Edward Casso, D-Commerce City, said he was returning to his third floor office from lunch when he heard the commotion. Looking down from the second floor, Casso saw a man lying in pool of blood, with blood splatters behind him.
Casso described the man as a white male, 30 to 40 years old, about 6-feet-2-inches tall and weighing about 225 pounds. Casso said the man was dressed in black or blue slacks and a white shirt.
He said 10 to 15 state troopers had secured the area around the governor's office and one of them "was visibly shaken," he said.
Republican Senators Mike Kopp of Littleton and Andy McElhany of Colorado Springs were meeting in the senate minority offices when they heard four loud bangs. They thought the sounds were from construction work.
Then a staffer burst into the room and told them there was a shooting.
"Your mind immediately races to the other tragedies that have taken place," Kopp said.
Both senators were certain that security at the Capitol security would become part of the political debate next session. They said that after Sept. 11, 2001, metal detectors were placed in the Capitol, but were removed after about a year when members of the House and Senate decided they were not necessary.
Sen. Nancy Spence, R-Centennial, said it is the first time she is aware of any security breach during her nine years at the Capitol. She said she would not seek security changes, in terms of installing metal detectors at the doors: "It would really make me sad if we had to shut down buildings."
She added: I still don't feel threatened. I can't be intimidated by feeling that someone is going to come into the Capitol and put my life at risk."
Denverpost.com will update this story as quickly as information becomes available.
They shot the emperor? Dang it...
As opposed to???
As opposed to???
For serious cases he has a few guards with TB who cough on people bothering the governor.
I just heard the news here (Littleton, CO) and turned the radio to the local news...I kid you not, Sonny Jackson of the Denver Police Department was giving a press conference of some kind and a passerby (not sure if it was a reporter) yelled out “Was it a Republican or Democrat?” about who the shooter was...I am not joking....the only other thing I heard is that the man was wearing a tuxedo and prayed before the gunshots happened....very weird incident.
Whatever happened to paragraphs? Doesn’t journalism school teach it anymore? *sigh*
It makes reading stuff like this more difficult.
Was the guy in the TUXEDO that was kneeling down and said the expletive the same one that was the shooter?? Emperor in a Tuxedo.....PENGUIN????
Ah, yes, the Denver Post. That explains it.
HF
In this day and age????? Talk about empty headed blathering....
What a beautiful story. (Sniff, sniff)
;')
O2
Maximilian’s long-lost heir?
Josephine’s missing G-G-G-Grandson?
The Death Star took a wrong turn in the Time Tunnel?
Sounds to me like the cops there are better shots than the LAPD.
The ghosts of Bill Haywood, Joe Hill, and George Pettibone, the IWW from Columbine Mine in Colorado and the Mine Mill Union all seem suspect. After all they killed the ex Governor of Colorado.
What happened today at the Denver Capitol didn’t happen. There was no gunman, there was no gun. Go back to your business as usual. Let the capitol tours continue as the dead body lays there. Who’s dead body? What did he do? Nobody who did nothing that convinces us to improve our security systems... There have been and will be no metal detectors in our public buildings because they’re soo restrictive, invasive, and offensive. What happened at Virginia Tech can’t happen here. We’re so open and friendly. Who would ever do such a thing to sweet old us? What happened at Columbine should change nothing. What happened in Beslan in 2004 when Muslim fundamentalists took a children’s school hostage for 58 hours, resulting in three hundred and thirty eight dead, that can never happen here in the U.S... Let’s do nothing!
If our elected leaders aren’t interested in protecting themselves, what does that say about their concerns about us?
Exactly. But I’m sure they’ll do everything they can to take your ability to protect yourself away. Its ridiculous!
Dang strait. This kind of stuff makes me a nervous wreck. If I’m not careful I’ll start talking to myself...
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