DENVER (AP) -- Gov. Bill Ritter heard the shots echo in the hallway -- pop, pop, pop.
An unidentified man was shot and killed outside the offices of Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter.
1 of 2 Just outside his Capitol office, a man who declared "I am the emperor" had been shot and killed by a state trooper when he refused to drop his gun, authorities said. Inside, Ritter -- a former Denver district attorney -- immediately tried to draw on lessons from his old job.
"I handled a lot of different investigations as the DA, and I went into the mode I would have as the DA, which is to separate those people who listened or heard something and those who actually witnessed something," Ritter said Monday a few hours after the incident.
Ritter was not injured.
Authorities said the unidentified man -- described as wearing dark pants and a white shirt -- had at least two verbal confrontations with state troopers in Ritter's security. The man had walked into the reception area of Ritter's office and was being escorted out before he produced a gun and refused orders to put it down, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said. Watch the governor describe how he went into DA mode »
Four or five shots were heard, but authorities would not say how many times the trooper fired.
Before he was shot, the gunman said, "I am the emperor and I'm here to take over state government," said Evan Dreyer, the governor's spokesman.
Police said they did not know his name or motive.
In the Denver suburb of Northglenn, police said the man may have rented a tuxedo from a formal wear shop Monday morning.
A woman working at a Mr. Neat's store there reported that a man with a pistol and knife in his pockets was fitted for a tuxedo and said "the emperor is coming," police Sgt. Steve Garrow said.
"He did make the statement that today is the day he will reign. The emperor is coming. So it's something that sounds a lot like what that guy Denver had was saying down there," Garrow said.
"It was something to where we felt that it's a good possibility that it's the same guy," Garrow said. "There's nothing confirmed."
Jackson had no immediate comment on the report.
Ritter said he was inside the office with 10 or 11 other people and heard the shots, but he would not say how close he was to the action. He said several members of his staff witnessed the shooting.
"I asked them not to talk to one another so they didn't taint their perceptions, begin talking to the police officers about what we had inside the office in terms of witnesses, so that's basically how I dealt with it," Ritter said in a news conference on the Capitol steps just hours after the shooting.
Ritter said he spoke with his wife, Jeannie, and told her he was fine.
"It was much more difficult communicating with my kids," said Ritter, who has four children, two still living at home. "It's just something that comes with this business."
The shooting occurred shortly after 2 p.m. The man did not fire his weapon, Jackson said.
The Capitol has no metal detectors. They are usually installed temporarily during the governor's annual State of the State address in January but then are removed.
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Metal detectors were installed after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks but were removed the following July because lawmakers wanted to ensure the public had easy access.
Ritter said Capitol security would be temporarily stepped up while lawmakers and others discuss any permanent changes. Starting Tuesday, all visitors will be required to enter through a single entrance and pass through a metal detector, he said. It wasn't clear how long that requirement would be in place.
"We live in a country where there is just that constant tension about security versus openness," he said.
State Rep. Edward Casso, who said he saw the gunman after the shooting, said the Capitol should have metal detectors.
"It's kind of freaky someone could get that close," the first-term Democrat said.
Casso described the suspect as being in his 30s or 40s, dressed in a white shirt and dark slacks.
Authorities roped off the area where the man was shot, and an ambulance and eight police cars converged on the building's north entrance.
An hour after the shooting, state troopers and police -- some carrying automatic weapons -- ordered the Capitol evacuated and began a room-by-room search. They did not say whether the search was a precaution or whether they had reason to believe someone else was involved.
Pat Garriott said he was eating in the basement cafeteria when he heard shots.
