DENVER — The parents of Christian Glass say an internal affairs report examining the law enforcement shooting death of their son vindicates their belief that the Clear Creek County sheriff's deputy who fired at their son acted improperly and violated protocol during the incident.
“But it doesn’t bring him back,” Christian’s father Simon Glass told Denver7 Investigates.
The 72-page report, which was conducted by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, noted that then-Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Buen “failed to use any de-escalation tactics,” and “escalated Mr. Glass to the point that Mr. Glass stopped all verbal communication.”
Glass had called 911 in the late evening of June 10, 2022, after getting his car stuck on a dirt road near Silver Plume. His parents say he was having a mental health crisis when dealing with police.
The report states that Christian was not in a position to harm any of the responding officers, despite having knives in the car for his amateur geological work.
This is in contradiction to the original press release sent by the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office the day after the shooting that noted “the suspect eventually tried to stab an officer and was shot."
In body camera footage, Christian can be heard saying that he did not feel safe exiting his vehicle, despite demands from officers to do so.
RELATED:Family seeking answers about why man, 22, was shot and killed by deputies in Silver Plume
Christian was not under suspicion of any crime.
“It was just a systemic march toward murder,” Simon said.
Buen and another former deputy, Kyle Gould, were indicted in November by a grand jury and are awaiting trial. Court documents show Buen was indicted for second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment. Gould was indicted for criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment, according to court documents. Their employment with the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office was terminated following the indictment.
“They didn’t help him. They attacked him, they bullied him and they murdered him,” Christian’s mother, Sally Glass, said.
Sally added that they are speaking out because they want justice for their son. They also questioned why no other officers intervened and want all seven officers who were scene that night to be held accountable .
“I never want another family to go through what we’re having to go through,” she said. “I want there to be change. I want the people that did this, that murdered our son, behind bars.”
