Affidavit: Simi Valley man said he was "suicidal" when he decided to try to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh

A Simi Valley man charged with the attempted murder of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told an emergency dispatcher he was having "suicidal thoughts" just before he was arrested early Wednesday morning, federal authorities said.

Nicholas John Roske, 26, told the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center he had traveled from California to Maryland to kill a specific Supreme Court Justice, and had a firearm in his suitcase while having "suicidal thoughts," Department of Justice officials said. Montgomery County police officers who were dispatched to look into the call found Roske, who was still on the phone with the dispatcher, according to authorities.

Roske, who arrived in front of Kavanaugh's home in a taxi dressed in all black, was taken into custody and seized his backpack and suitcase, which authorities say contained a black tactical chest rig, tactical knife, a Glock 17 pistol with two magazines and ammunition, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, screwdriver, nail punch, crow bar, pistol light, duct tape, hiking boots with padding on the outside of the soles, and other items. He allegedly told detectives he was upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision about the right to abortion, as well as the school shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers.

"Roske indicated that he believed the Justice that he intended to kill would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws," a federal affidavit said. "Roske stated he began thinking about how to give his life a purpose and decided that he would kill the Supreme Court Justice after finding the Justice's Montgomery County address on the Internet. Roske further indicated that he had purchased the Glock pistol and other items for the purpose of breaking into the Justice's residence and killing the Justice as well as himself."

Dan Shannon, who identified himself as Roske's grandfather, said this was out of character for his grandson.

"We're in crisis right now so we don't know," Shannon said. He said Roske did not live at his Simi Valley home and was not sure the last time he had stayed there.

If convicted as charged, Roske faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the attempted murder of a United States Judge.