Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Audio By Carbonatix
A 20-year-old man wearing body armor and a ballistic helmet was found dead at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park on October 28 – heavily armed with a semi-automatic rifle and handgun, “multiple” loaded magazines and “at least two to four” improvised explosive devices, which were found near his body and inside his car.
“Some were found in his vehicle, some near his body,” a law enforcement source tells Westword. “Investigators are still trying to get a count from the bomb squad, but at least two to four.”
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of the deceased male, identified as Diego Barajas Medina, on the morning of October 28, when he was found inside a ladies restroom prior to the park’s opening; he had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Investigators suspect that he entered the park illegally after hours, while no employees or patrons were present.
Walt Stowe, community relations deputy and public information officer for GCSO, says Medina could have “implemented an attack of devastating proportions” in the Glenwood Springs area “based on the amount of munitions and ammunition and rifles that he had on his person.” He was dressed in black tactical clothing that had “patches and emblems that gave the appearance of being associated with law enforcement,” according to a GCSO press release.
Stowe says that authorities have already started piecing together a profile of the Carbondale man and what motivated him, despite there being a lack of evidence outside the adventure park scene.
“We have since discovered his name and know a little more about him, but we are not ready to release that until the coroner has notified next of kin and done his investigation to determine the actual cause of death,” Stowe tells Westword. “We have sympathy towards the family, obviously. This gentleman was either disturbed or tied up in some things he shouldn’t have been. But we don’t know that yet until we do a little more investigating. As far as knowing if there’s any manifestos or anything else out there, that’s still under investigation.”
Stowe adds, “In a small community like ours, this was a bit surprising to find.”
Stowe has been with the sheriff’s office for roughly a decade and has never seen or heard of someone so heavily armed being found – dead or alive – in Garfield County, which has a population of just over 62,000. The largest town is Glenwood Springs, known for its hot springs and Doc Holliday’s grave.
“We just don’t see people walking around with guns and bombs and munitions on an everyday basis,” Stowe says. “That’s not something we find in the Garfield County area.”
When authorities arrived at the park on October 28, they located the IEDs that Medina had brought with him; the Grand Junction Bomb Squad was able to render them safe. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Carbondale Police Department and Garfield County All Hazard Response Team were also involved in the response and investigation.
“Everybody got away safely,” Stowe says, noting that the public was never at risk. “We have found nothing else on site, just what was near him and in his car. We are aware of where he lives and have done a search of his residence. That was clean.”
The investigation, however, is still ongoing – and there’s always the possibility that Medina wasn’t working alone.
“If there’s others involved, that changes everything,” Stowe says. “If it’s just him, then the case is pretty much closed.”
