A grand jury indicted two Colorado sheriff’s deputies in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man. He was shot after dialing 911 for roadside assistance when his car got stuck on a dirt road. His mother later stated that the young man was having a “mental crisis.”
Five months after Christian Glass was slain by law enforcement officers, the indictments against former sheriff’s deputies Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould from Clear Creek County were returned on Wednesday. The case has become a hot topic due to a widespread need for policy changes emphasizing crisis response and de-escalation.
According to court documents, the two deputies are accused of second-degree murder, official misconduct, and criminally negligent homicide.
According to a statement from Nichole Lentz, a spokesman for the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s office, both officers have been fired as a result of the indictments. Lentz also noted that the sheriff’s office’s original press release following the shooting “does not reflect the full story of what transpired on that horrible night.” An internal review of the sheriff’s office discovered “policy and procedural deficiencies.”
Officers approached the victim, Glass, to get him out of the vehicle. Police said he was uncooperative after more than an hour of discussions, so they shattered the passenger window and took a knife out of the car. In the video footage, cops can be heard urging Glass not to toss two knives out the window when Glass offered to do so.
Glass appeared to panic after the window was broken, and he seized a second knife. After that, police used bean bag rounds to shoot Glass and a stun gun to subdue him. Glass can be seen aiming a knife at a police officer who approaches the rear driver window in the video. According to the autopsy report, another cop shot Glass six times with his gun.
Glass allegedly had knives and a hammer in his car because he was interested in geology and had recently returned from a geology trip to Utah. Reportedly, Glass had alerted the 911 dispatcher about the knives in the car, and also told the deputies when they showed up to assist him.
“You’re sending someone right? You tracked my location? My car is stuck under a bush,” Glass had told a 911 dispatcher. “I love you. You’re my light right now. I’m really scared. I’m sorry.”