Case of Christian Glass, killed by law enforcement in Clear Creek County, moving to grand jury
Investigators in the case of the police killing of Christian Glass in Clear Creek County will go to a grand jury, according to Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum.
Her office is presenting the case of the June 10 fatal police shooting of Glass, 22, of Boulder to a Fifth Judicial District grand jury, McCollum said in a statement Wednesday night. The grand jury was empaneled Tuesday and McCollum is presenting the case for further investigation and possible charges.
The grand jury is expected to convene several times over the course of November, McCollum said.
Glass's parents, Sally and Simon Glass, applauded the move.
"The wheels of justice are turning in the right direction, and we support the efforts and diligence of the 5th Judicial District Attorney, Heidi McCollum, to empanel a Grand Jury," they said in a statement through their attorneys at Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC.
Christian Glass was killed in June but the case became known last month after his parents called for accountability and released bodycam footage of their son's killing.
"Christian's killing is a stain on Clear Creek County and on Colorado," Simon Glass said. "It was a murder by a Colorado official that cannot stand. It is not right."
It happened on June 10 when Glass's car broke down in Silver Plume. He called 911 for help, and police from Georgetown and Idaho Springs arrived along with Clear Creek County Sheriff's deputies.
Glass told the emergency dispatcher he had two knives, a hammer and a rubber mallet. His family's attorneys say that's because he was an amateur geologist.
Over the course of a chaotic hour of escalating tension, law enforcement officers ordered Christian Glass to get out of the car, but he expressed fear of being shot. His family says he was suffering from a mental health crisis.
The shooting renewed interest among county officials in forming a crisis response team, something county commissioners said they tried to start two years earlier.
As things escalated, officers broke a window in an attempt to get him out and Glass grabbed one of the knives. Officers then tased him.
Body cam video then showed Christian Glass beginning to swing the knife wildly with his arm. That's when a Clear Creek deputy or deputies shot him. Investigators have still not said how many deputies actually shot him.
"There is not an hour that passes that we do not think about our gentle son Christian Glass," his parents said Wednesday. "We are expecting accountability for those involved in his murder."
