Clear Creek County's internal investigation report reveals new details on Christian Glass shooting
A report released this week on the shooting death of Christian Glass reveals new information surrounding the officers involved in the incident.
The report, released this week from the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office, includes 72 pages of documents surrounding the murder of 22-year-old Glass in June of 2022.
Most of the documents are transcripts of the body camera footage from that night, which the public has had access to for months. But the overarching conclusion from the reporting agency, Douglas County, was that former Clear Creek County deputy, Andrew Buen, acted against the policy as a law enforcement agent and failed Glass that night he called 911 for help.
The report outlines the interviews Douglas County Sheriff's Office did with the officers from different agencies that night, as well as Buen's stated thought process for why he decided it was the right move to shoot Glass that night after he refused to get out of the car.
It's important to note the report disagrees entirely with Buen's decision and thought process altogether, saying he was untrained in negotiations and was actively hurting the situation that night.
Sally and Simon Glass, Christian Glass' parents, sat down with CBS News Colorado Thursday to remind people why continued coverage of their son was important for every Coloradan, in order to feel safe with the standard of law enforcement in current times.
"Finally, this is the first time that the police came out...and said that (that) police officer did wrong," Sally Glass said. "A reasonable person would not have behaved in that way...late to the party, but they finally come out to say that is what needs to happen."
Siddhartha Rathod, the attorney representing the Glass family, says he hopes the other officers on the scene that night in June are charged as well, considering they did not do anything, or enough to stop the course of action that ended in Christian's death.
"They need to be charged with failure to intervene, each and every one of them failed to intervene," Rathod said. "Each and every one of them failed to stop them from breaking out the windows of that car."
Glass' parents echoed the same sentiment, adding that no law enforcement agencies have had the decency to call them and offer their condolences for what happened and agree that the death of their son was a failure of law enforcement response that night.
"The focus of the report was on the murderer, but there were many other people there," Simon Glass said "From what we can tell, each one of them should have ended and said stop, said 'What are we doing here? We need to stop.'"
Simon Glass also commented on Clear Creek County's efforts to create a crisis response team, saying he appreciated the move and it's a step to help people. But he wanted to see meaningful change in the employees, who are currently working there and not just the addition of a new team.
"That is great that they are doing that, a couple of years too late, but great that they are doing that and happy to see it," Glass said. "But if they still employ murderous police officers, employ people who are dangerous and can't be trusted to act properly in proper circumstances, who is to say it will make any difference?"
Both parents are still struggling with the grief and loss of Christian.
"Sleeping is a struggle, it's something we manage," Simon Glass said. "It's just this time of year because it is Christmas and his birthday, it and reminds us of all of the Christmases we've had...and all the ones we are not going to."
The next court date for the former Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office employees is Jan. 30.