Colorado's Emperor

I mentioned yesterday that it was pretty obvious that this man who was shot and killed when he drew a weapon in the governor's office was mentally ill. There seems to be have a bit of advance warning that he was suffering some sort of mental breakdown. This AP news story in the Vail Daily reports:

Before he was shot, Snyder said, “I am the emperor and I’m here to take over state government,” said Evan Dreyer, the governor’s spokesman.

About three hours earlier, Snyder had gone to a suburban Northglenn shop with a gun and knife in his pockets, rented a tuxedo and told a woman it was “the day of the emperor’s reign,” Northglenn police said.

Also on Monday, Snyder told a co-worker in an e-mail that God made him “the emperor, the sovereign ruler of this nation,” said police in Fort Collins, where Snyder had been an intern for Advanced Energy.

“God has bestowed this honor on me. Today is the appointed day in which God has chosen for me to begin my reign,” the e-mail read.

Advanced Energy said Snyder worked there for two months.

This news report from Denver's channel 9 just breaks your heart to read:

Snyder, who lived with his parents in Thornton, rented a tuxedo Monday morning before going to the state Capitol where he was shot and killed by a member of Governor Ritter's security team.

On Monday, police say, he drove a 2004 black Kia and left it in the 1200 block of Cherokee Street, about a block away from the Denver Police Department, before he evidently walked to the Capitol.

Meanwhile, police were trying to locate Snyder after being contacted by an employee at the tuxedo rental business who was alarmed by what said was disturbing behavior. Police reports show the employee also reported seeing Snyder carrying the gun and the knife, although she told police she was not sure if the weapons were real.

Records show an officer from the Northglenn Police Department went to the family home and talked to Snyder's mother Kathie, who described her son as mentally ill.

According to the police report, "Kathie stated Aaron has been diagnosed as delusional and he has entered the care of a doctor."

At an officer's request, Kathie Snyder tried to call her son on his cell phone, the report shows, but the call went to voicemail.

The officer then put out a teletype to all agencies along the I-25 corridor requesting officers to check Snyder's well-being.

Minutes later, the shooting at the Capitol was reported.

9Wants to Know spoke with a member of Snyder's family who said, "He had his problems. ... I'm sorry for the officer that had to shoot him. My heart's broken for him. I'm heartbroken for the whole situation. I'm just thankful no one else was hurt."

...

Prior to the incident, Snyder sent a strange e-mail to one co-worker. 9Wants to Know has learned that in the e-mail Snyder introduces himself as the "emperor of sovereign rule of this nation." He then writes, "Today is the appointed day in which God has chosen for me to begin my reign."

He also writes, "Please keep the emperor's desk free for my use in research and development purposes when I have spare time."

I hate to play amateur psychiatrist, but all of this fits the schizophrenic model well--although 32 is a bit old to suddenly come down with this. I would be curious to know how long he has been ill. I would also be curious to know if he had been previously hospitalized.

This news report from the Sterling, Colorado Journal-Advocate suggests that his problems go back a little while:

Property records listed the owners as Richard and Kathie Snyder. Officers said the couple was not at home today.

Neighbor Mary Annunziato said the Snyders’ son, Aaron, also lived in the house. Police have declined to say whether they believe Aaron Snyder was the man killed at the Capitol.

Annunziato said Aaron Snyder was kind and loving but “was not well.” She declined to elaborate on his condition.

“Aaron, he never exhibited any aggressive behavior. He was kind, I would almost say docile,” Annunziato said.

This account from the Fort Collins Coloradoan, along with other reports, fits the schizophrenic model:

Another neighbor, Doug Egge, recalled seeing Aaron Snyder walk up and down the street smoking cigarettes. Sometimes he would smile, but "other times it was like he was in his own little world,'' Egge said.

Egge described him as a "nice kid'' who was quiet and reserved.

I'm guessing that Snyder's problems may have been going on for a while:

Snyder attended Colorado State University in Fort Collins off and on for 14 years starting in 1992, CSU spokeswoman Dell Rae Moellenberg said. He received a bachelor's degree in 2005 and took master's degree classes in the fall of 2006 but had not been enrolled since then, she said.

It sounds to me like he might have started to have a schizophrenic break sometime in college--bad enough to cause him to take classes "on and off." It could not have been hopelessly bad, or he would not have been able to complete his bachelor's degree. I also notice from searching google for phone numbers that there was an Aaron Snyder listed in both Glendale and Boulder, so perhaps he was living on his own in the last few years. It seems plausible that his situation declined and he moved back in with his parents.

What a tragedy it is to watch a family member sink into mental illness--and be unable to stop it.