A phlebotomist accused of fatally shooting a panhandling homeless man made threatening statements to the FBI four months before the alleged murder, according to court testimony on Friday.

Randy Jiron, 40, is facing a possible first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of Craig Bruce, 54.

According to the arrest document, 20 doctors and nurses worked in vain to save Bruce’s life. His family was able to say goodbye before he died.

In his last hours, Bruce told police he “was shot and out nowhere” and “had no idea who shot him or why.”

Jiron is being held on $5 million cash bond because, Jefferson County Court Judge Mark Randall explained on Friday, “This appears to be a random murder in a very busy area.”

Upon arguing for the hefty bond amount, 1st Judicial Senior District Attorney Tracy Schroeder said, “If the affidavit is accurate, he largely executed a member of the community for absolutely no reason. No argument. No dispute. No self-defense.”

Jiron kept his head down during the appearance from the Jefferson County jail Friday. The moment the WebEx hearing ended, he crossed his arms and quickly turned away.

Jiron allegedly shot Bruce less than a mile from St. Anthony’s-Lakewood, where The Denver Gazette confirmed he worked as a medical professional taking blood draws from patients receiving intensive care.

According to the arrest affidavit obtained by The Denver Gazette, drivers who were in the area of 6^th Avenue West at around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday saw a “beat up Jeep” pull up next to Bruce and fire three shots before it sped off. Witnesses said the Jeep then drove south on Simms Street, made the turn onto 6^th Avenue and headed eastbound.

Lakewood police and an Adams County SWAT team later apprehended Jiron at the home of a Facebook friend, who lives in Strasburg, Colorado, Lakewood police said.

Surveillance footage of the Jeep Cherokee, which was registered to Jiron, and forensic cell phone tower data connected him to the murder, the arrest document said.

Friends contacted by The Denver Gazette said Jiron was a man who may have been suffering from serious mental illness but appeared to be getting his life together.

He held down a responsible medical position and bought a car in May, they said.

Still, they said they had distanced themselves from Jiron in the last decade because of behavior they saw as increasingly erratic.

Justin Velarde said he remembers a time when Jiron was convinced that a rock he found in the Highline Canal was the Holy Grail and even called the Colorado Museum of Nature and Science in an effort to explore further.

Velarde said that Jiron thought the government was “running experiments on people,” and particularly “practicing mind control” on the homeless population.

A relative, who asked not to be identified, said that Jiron himself was homeless at one time, and that he showered people “with kindness, and in that way, hide the terrible reality that he was actually living.”

During Friday’s hearing in Jefferson County Court revealed that Jiron had been on the radar of the FBI and Aurora Police for months.

According to the arrest document, the FBI reported that Jiron had been calling the agency constantly about “hearing voices, having hallucinations, sex slaves, and his ex-girlfriend.”

In several rambling phone messages, Jiron told the FBI National Threat Operation Center that “this type of harassment is the cause of mass shootings in this country,” the arrest affidavit stated.

It’s unclear what Jiron meant by the term “harassment.”

On another call to the NTOC, he said, “They’re left to do but go down a list of people I hear and take out as many as I can.”

An Aurora spokesperson said that, on Feb. 19, 2023, just before 8 a.m., officers conducted a welfare check on Jiron in response to a call from the FBI.

The affidavit said an Aurora Crisis Response Team member who was responding to the FBI tip line for a mental health check noted: “There is concern that if police show up at his residence it will trigger a hostile response.”

Aurora police spokesperson Sydney Edwards told The Denver Gazette that multiple attempts were made to contact Jiron, “all of which were unsuccessful.”

“Based on this, teams were unable to assess if Jiron was a further risk,” Edwards said. “Follow up attempts were conducted but also unsuccessful. The case was inactivated with the intention to reopen if further information was received.”

Edwards said that, since that February communication, no new reports were received on Jiron. She was not aware whether Jiron received mental health treatment in the months leading up to the shooting.

Velarde does not believe that Jiron went into counseling because “he didn’t think he had a problem.”

Velarde said that Jiron used to be “silly and goofy and loved intensely,” but that his mother, whom he was close to, died in January. He thought that she may have been the only person who still talked to him regularly.

According to the affidavit, he called the FBI frequently.

FBI spokesperson Vikki Migoya said in a statement that the agency does not discuss or describe contacts it has with individuals.

“The FBI receives many complaints of criminal activity and how we handle them is a confidential process,” Migoya said.

Centura Health confirmed that Jiron worked at St. Anthony’s-Lakewood, but the dates he worked there were unclear.

In a statement, the hospital said, “We are deeply disturbed by the allegations against Randy Jiron; however, upon our learning of his arrest on June 22nd, we immediately removed him from conducting services within and having access to our health system. We remain committed to providing safe, whole person care.”

“He had dozens of friends that were just waiting for him to come back,” Velarde said.