Gunman was in doctor's care
Aaron Richard Snyder, the man killed Monday at the Capitol, had been diagnosed as delusional and was under the care of a doctor, his mother told Northglenn police.
When Northglenn police got a report Monday from a Mister Neat's store about a suspicious man who rented a tuxedo, they began an investigation. They spoke with Snyder's mother, Kathie Snyder, early Monday afternoon.
Kathie Snyder told officers, according to the police report, that her son had been diagnosed as delusional by a Littleton doctor and was getting treatment.
Police were unable to locate Aaron Snyder, and he was killed by a law enforcement officer when he showed a gun inside the Capitol.
Snyder, 32, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to an autopsy
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Snyder was a student at Colorado State University and worked in research and development, said Jane Ingalls, company spokeswoman at Advanced Energies, where he began a summer internship May 14.
He sent an e-mail to all employees of the company at 8:25 a.m. the day he died, according to Rita Davis, Fort Collins police spokeswoman.
"Thank you very much for hiring me. I have not properly identified myself. I am the emperor, the sovereign rule of this nation. God has bestowed this honor on me. Today is the appointed day in which God has chosen for me to begin my reign. I have decided to favour (sic) Advanced Energies as a company. Please keep the Emperor's desk free for my use in R and D purposes when I have spare time. I take engineering very seriously. With love in Jesus Christ, signed Aaron Aurelius Ricardus Constantinus."
Company officials called Fort Collins police about the e-mail after Northglenn police said Snyder had been working in Fort Collins.
"We did a welfare check on Advanced Energies to make sure everything was OK," Davis said.
Davis said the company did not mention whether Snyder had demonstrated similar behavior in the past.
Today, neighbors in Thornton said Aaron
A man lays on the floor at the state Capitol after troopers shot him, saying he had threatened office staff members on July 16, 2007. (Brian Brainerd | The Denver Post)
Snyder lived with his parents, Rick and Kathie.
Mary Annunziato, a longtime friend of the family, said Aaron Snyder was a brilliant student and a nice guy. She said he tutored college students to make money.
Snyder took online courses at Front Range Community College in the fall of 1991 but did not graduate, school officials said Tuesday. He re-enrolled at the college in the summer of 2005 and was seeking an associate's degree in science, but he had not completed it, records show.
Snyder attended Colorado State University at different points from the fall of 1992 through the fall of 2006, said university spokeswoman Dell Rae Moellenberg. Snyder earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in the fall of 2005.
Snyder
Aaron Richard Snyder lived in Thornton with his parents in a development called The Hill at Signal Creek. (Brian Brainerd | The Denver Post)
was not enrolled as a student in the master's program in the spring or summer of this year.
Doug Egge, another neighbor, said Snyder wanted to be a software engineer. Egge works in computers, and Snyder would ask him questions.
Egge said Snyder was a quick study.
He described the whole family as "great neighbors."
Staff writers Felisa Cardona and Chris Osher contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
A man identified as Aaron Richard Snyder showed up on Monday around 2:25 p.m. outside the Colorado Capitol offices of Governor Bill Ritter. He was carrying a 357-caliber 7 shot Smith and Wesson revolver with 20 extra rounds of ammunition and started screaming "I am the emperor" and "I am here to take over the state".

When he was confronted by a Colorado State trooper, Snyder opened his jacket showing that he was carrying a gun. The trooper ordered Snyder to drop the gun, but instead he moved "menancingly" in the direction of the trooper who then shot him once in the head and twice in the chest.

Snyder died from the multiple gunshot wounds on the floor of the Capitol office building. The Capitol went on a full lockdown with employees, tour groups and visitors in the building at the time ordered to stay where they were.

Governor Ritter was interviewing a judge candidate in his office at the time of the shooting. He held a press conference on the Capitol step two hours later. 

Mr. Snyder was under doctors care for delusional behavior. The Northglenn, Colorado police issued a BOL "Be On the Lookout" to all law enforcement agencies in Colorado for Snyder and his car, a 2004 black Kia, around 25 minutes before the shooting occurred.