Snyder bought gun three months ago

Alan Gathright, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 17, 2007 at midnight

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Three months before his fatal mission at the Capitol, Aaron Snyder legally purchased a Smith & Wesson handgun from Sportsman's Warehouse in Thornton.

Snyder passed the instant background check with flying colors, store manager Jason Perez said today. Perez reviewed the receipt after being contacted by ATF following yesterday's shooting.

"All we know is he purchased it from here," Perez said. "There were no red flags. Everything was legal. He was just like any other ordinary Joe that wants to purchase a gun for leisure or anything else they're doing."

A search of Colorado court records shows Snyder had a half dozen minor run-ins with the law between 1995 and 1997, all of them traffic-related.

He was ticketed five times in Larimer County for driving with expired license plates, including four separate tickets in the span of two months in early 1997. In 1995, he had two violations for driving without a valid license.

He had no other criminal record.

The brief but winding trail from Smith & Wesson buyer to Capitol gunman led Snyder for a time through Fort Collins, where he was a summer intern at an energy firm.

He left in dramatic fashion.

Snyder early yesterday sent a bizarre e-mail to his boss declaring himself God's appointed "emperor of 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," wrote Snyder, 32, in the 8:25 a.m. e-mail sent to a supervisor at Advanced Energy, according to Fort Collins police spokesperson Rita Davis.

He then "abruptly" left work without telling anyone, rented a tuxedo in Northglenn and headed for the Capitol where he was shot dead just after 2 p.m. by a State Patrol officer outside Gov. Bill Ritter's office, police said.

"I have decided to favor Advanced Energy as a company," he e-mailed the supervisor. "Please keep the emperor's desk free for my use in R&D purposes when I have spare time. I take engineering very seriously.

"With love in Jesus Christ, Aaron Aurelius Ricardus Constantinus," Snyder signed the e-mail, Davis said. The dead gunman's real name is Aaron Richard Snyder.

Fort Collins police received a bulletin from Northglenn police to be on the lookout for Snyder at 1:58 p.m.

It was too late.

Moments later, Snyder — again spouting "I am the emperor. I am here to take over state government" — was gunned down at the Capitol.

Between the time of the e-mail and the showdown at the Capitol, a rattled employee at Mr. Neat's Formal Wear in Northglenn had called police warning them that Snyder, who had a gun in one pants pocket and a knife in the other.

When the clerk asked when he'd need the tux, Snyder replied "right away," adding that he had "an event he was to attend in Denver," according to a Northglenn police report.

As the tux alterations dragged on, Snyder began "sweating profusely and became quite nervous," police said.

"Today's the day," Snyder told the alarmed tux shop worker, adding: "I will reign ... The emperor was coming," the clerk recounted to police.

Northglenn officers began racing to track down Snyder, who'd written his name, cell phone number and other contact information on his tux rental slip.

Officers went to Snyder's Thornton home, where his mother, Kathie Snyder, told police her son had been diagnosed as delusional and was under the care of a Littleton psychiatrist.

Asked if anything had upset her son, Kathie Snyder said "a couple days ago, Aaron got upset" with his parents over "a minor issue." It was so insignificant that she couldn't recall it, a Northglenn police report said.

The mother said she knew nothing of the Denver event her son had told the formal wear shop about. She added that her son wouldn't have gotten the handgun for the family's home.

The report said she tried to call Snyder on his cell phone, but only got his voice mail.

Northglenn police Sgt. Steve Garrow said officers had no prior contact with Snyder. He didn't know whether Snyder had a history of mental problems.

Just as Fort Collins police dispatched an officer to Advanced Energy, a company official was calling the department to report concerns about Snyder's morning e-mail, Davis said.

Snyder, who started his three-month intern stint May 14, began the e-mail: "Thank you very much for hiring me. I have not properly introduced myself. I am the emperor of sovereign rule of this nation."

Advanced Energy issued a statement today expressing its condolences to Snyder's family and others affected by the fatal shooting, but said any further information would be released by authorities with whom the firm is cooperating.

"We were saddened to hear about the events at the Colorado State Capitol yesterday involving Aaron Snyder, who was a summer intern in the Research and Development area at Advanced Energy for two months since May 14, 2007," the statement read. "Our condolences go to Aaron's family and to all those who have been impacted by this tragic event.

"Out of respect for Aaron's family — and in light of the ongoing police investigation — any information we have on Aaron has been provided to the authorities. We will allow them to decide what information, if any, they choose to make public," the statement said.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486

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