Police say armed man killed himself instead of carrying out apparent plan to attack amusement park

DENVER – A heavily armed man killed himself rather than carry out an apparent plan to shoot up a mountaintop amusement park in Colorado, his body discovered in a bathroom next to words scrawled on the wall, "I am not a killer," authorities said Monday.

Diego Barajas Medina, 20, was found dead in a women's bathroom at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park by a maintenance crew on Saturday morning, before the park opened to the public.

Medina apparently entered the park while it was closed, armed with an AR-style rifle, a semi-automatic handgun and explosives and was wearing body armor and tactical clothing, similar to what a police SWAT team member might wear, authorities said.

A message saying, "I am not a killer, I just wanted to get into the caves," was written on a wall of the bathroom where Medina's body was found lying on the floor, Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario said.

Vallario could not say for certain that Medina wrote the message.

The FBI will help review Medina's phone records and social media postings as part of the investigation, he said.

Multiple improvised explosive devices were found in the vehicle used by Medina, police said.

In a list of high school graduates published in a local newspaper in 2021, Medina said he planned to work for a year after graduation before attending Colorado Mountain College, a community college with several locations in western Colorado.

The weapons found on Medina were ghost guns, which do not have serial numbers and therefore cannot be traced.

His clothing had patches and emblems that gave the appearance of Medina being associated with law enforcement.

Investigators believe Medina drove up to the park on a service road. The park, which is surrounded by state-owned public land, is on a mountain above the Colorado River in western Colorado.

This story has been corrected to reflect that the quote from the message said "Wanted," instead of "Want," and that Medina's plans were included in a list of high school graduates published in a local newspaper, not a yearbook.