A Breckenridge man is in jail today after multiple people told authorities he was plotting a mass shooting and shared with them his timeline to make it happen.
“We had an incident in Breckenridge with someone threatening to carry out a mass shooting,” sheriff Jaime FitzSimons confirmed on the Krystal 93 morning show. “We made an arrest on that case. The public is safe. There is no threat out there now.”
The suspect was apprehended yesterday, Jan. 7, when authorities went to his home in unincorporated Breckenridge. They were acting on multiple tips. While there, sheriff’s detectives uncovered digital messages outlining his plot.
Today the man is held on three charges, including one count each of felony menacing and inciting destruction of life or property.
The sheriff’s office declined to share the suspect’s intended target and his timeline, citing the active investigation. Coming next is a search of his property.
The suspect was known to authorities. He had met at least once before with the sheriff’s SMART co-responder team for a mental health call.
A press release went out late last night to quell rumors, FitzSimons explained.
“That’s the thing, trying to beat and counter the public narrative,” FitzSimons said. “Once it gets out there it’s almost impossible to counter because now the threat keeps going, the trolls keep putting out misinformation and disinformation, and what they think and feel.”
On the sheriff’s Facebook page, many applaud the office for quick action. Others fear this is not the end.
“So how do we prosecute someone who ‘said they’re gonna do something,’” one man writes. “Chances r they will get out quick and then still have the potential to do so. Yikes scary.”
Krystal 93 will not be naming the suspect until final charges are filed in court.
