Death of Christian Glass: parents demand justice 3 months after officers shoot, kill 22-year-old who was in distress
The parents of a 22-year-old shot and killed by law enforcement in Clear Creek County want the officers responsible for his death to be held accountable. They are demanding that local, state and federal officials prosecute the officers involved.
The parents of Christian Glass -- Simon and Sally Glass -- spoke about his early June death publicly for the first time on Tuesday. They also discussed the body cam footage they and their legal representatives released from that night.
"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 mallot. His family's attorney say that is because he was an amateur geologist.
Over the span of an hour, officers told him he needed to get out of his car and dismissed attempts to drop the weapons out of his window.
Glass refused to leave the car. He said he was scared.
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 Glass beginning to swing the knife wildly with his arm. That's when an officer or officers shot him.
Glass's family says none of those actions by police should have happened.
"You know, an aggressive bully is always going to be an aggressive bully, and I don't know how you can train that characteristic out. Pay more, elevate the stages of the profession by getting rid of (them) and hire people with kind hearts and a moral compass," Sally Glass said.
In the video the family released, which is edited, you can hear Colorado State Patrol ask over dispatch communication if there is any reason they need to get Glass out of the car in the first place and the responding deputy said no.
According to the autopsy report, 6 gunshot wounds were found in his torse and upper right extremity with no evidence of close range fire; five of those gunshot wounds were in the torso and one in the right arm. There were also superficial sharp force injuries of the neck, torso and extremities along with blunt force injuries to his head, torso and extremities, along with a electroshock weapon barb recovered from the body bag that matched apparent puncture sites of the torso.
The autopsy also found that Glass' blood alcohol level was 0.010 along with some Delta-9 TCH in his system and evidence of amphetamines.
The coroner found that Glass died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds and his manner of death was homicide.
