A Man Threatened a Mass Shooting in Breckenridge, Colorado

Law enforcement officials in a Colorado mountain town may have thwarted a mass shooting at a crowded ski resort.

On January 7, the Summit County Sheriff’s office arrested a Breckenridge man named Nathaniel Zabik. According to an arrest affidavit obtained through an open records request, Zabik, 44, messaged acquaintances on Facebook saying he was preparing to carry out an act of mass violence at “the resort.”

Officials said Zabik sent 26 messages to two different people that detailed his plan. The two individuals sent screenshots of the messages to authorities prior to his arrest.

“I want to go on a killing spree and take out as many people and then myself,” Zabik messaged one person. “Life sucks and you die hopefully today.”

“At the resort I will be able to kill so many people before they get me,” he wrote in another message. “I’m going to kill as many people as possible before the cops kill me.”

Deputies were sent to Zabik’s home in unincorporated Summit County. Officials then received a “threat to life” tip from Colorado Information Analysis Center via the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which had flagged Zabik’s social media communication.

Cops followed Zabik in his vehicle and eventually pulled over and arrested him just before 3 P.M.

“We recognized the threat Zabik posed to our community and immediately isolated and contained him,” Summit County Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons said in a statement. “Deputies acted quickly and decisively to ensure there was no risk to public safety.”

Vail Resorts, which owns and operates Breckenridge Ski Resort, praised law enforcement in a statement provided to Outside.

“The safety of our employees and guests is our top priority, and we appreciate the quick action by law enforcement,” reads the statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, we reinforced our existing safety protocols across the resort and increased security presence to provide reassurance and visible support to employees and guests.”

Threats May Have Been Politically Motivated

The arrest affidavit sent to Outside was heavily redacted, with the screenshots of Zabik’s Facebook messages blacked out. But on January 10, the Summit Daily published a story referencing details of the redacted screenshots.

The Summit County Sheriff’s Office currently has the text of the Summit Daily story on its own website under the office’s official news tab—a page reserved for press releases and official comments.

According to the Summit Daily story, Zabik referenced U.S. politics in explaining his desire for an act of mass violence.

“There all liberals here, they deserve to die anyway,” Zabik wrote. He also referenced U.S. President Donald Trump as “the only good person.”

In another message, Zabik referenced the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut, in which 26 people died.

“No one will ever forget, make sandy hook which was fake anyway look like a vacation,” he wrote.

Zabik said he would target the ski area because there were “no cops at the resort.” He also stated that “I will have the record for most deaths by a single individual and I have it all planned out.”

Zabik intimated that the act of violence would happen within a two-hour timeline, and that he was “loading clips and eating pills.”

Zabik Faces Multiple Charges

Zabik was charged with Inciting Destruction of Life or Property and Menacing—both felony charges—as well as Harassment, a misdemeanor.

“Nathan did make statements about real lives that would be taken,” the arrest affidavit states. “He was excited and proud to do it. He was getting his plan formulated to kill as many people as he could.”

He appeared in court on January 9, and a judge set his bond at $25,000 cash. In court, deputy district attorney Rachael Frazer stated that he had committed as many as 20 crimes in Oklahoma, prior to him moving to Colorado. According to The Summit Daily, Zabik had more than 30 arrests in Oklahoma between 2003 and 2024, including 14 breached arrest warrants.