GRAPHIC: Colorado deputy fired following deadly shooting of Christian Glass, internal affairs report released

CLEARK CREEK COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV) – WARNING: Some of the details in the report at the bottom of this article can be hard to read and some of the images in the video at the top of this article can be hard to watch.

On Wednesday, the Cleark Creek County Sheriff’s Office shared a statement with the public in connection to the death of Christian Glass. Glass was shot and killed in June of 2022 in the Silver Plume area by a deputy with the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office. According to attorneys representing the family of Glass, Glass was experiencing a crisis and called 911 for help. Some body camera video of the incident can be viewed at the top of this article, provided by Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC. Click here to view previous coverage and all of the body camera footage released by the law firm.

“Deputies arrived and found a single vehicle, which appeared to have been involved in an accident,” part of the news release issued on June 11 by the sheriff’s office reads. “The driver and sole occupant, an adult white male, immediately became argumentative and uncooperative with the Deputies and had armed himself with a knife. Additional law enforcement officers arrived and for over an hour tried to bring the situation to a peaceful resolution. Deputies were able to break out the car windows and remove one knife. The suspect rearmed himself with a rock and a second knife. Deputies deployed lees-lethal bean bags, and Taser with negative results. The suspect eventually tried to stab an officer and was shot. The suspect was pronounced deceased on scene.”

The suspect was identified as Glass.

“From beginning to end, the officers escalated and proactively initiated force,” part of a news release issued Sept. 13 from Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC Attorneys at Law reads. “Christian had greeted the officers by making a heart sign with his hands. Christian, fully contained in his vehicle and presenting no threat, was eventually surrounded by seven officers with guns drawn from the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho Springs Police Department, Georgetown Police Department, Colorado State Patrol, and Colorado Division of Gaming. There was no need to threaten him with force; to draw guns; to break his car window; to fire beanbag rounds from a close distance; to tase him; to shoot him dead. From beginning to end, the officers on scene acted unconscionably and inhumanely. The Glass family agrees with Colorado State Patrol’s on-scene assessment that Christian had committed no crime, posed no threat to himself or others, and there was no reason for continued contact. These officers took a gentle, peaceful soul and extinguished it simply because it was ‘time to move the night on.’ The situation was so nonthreatening that the officers joked and laughed seconds before breaking Christian’s windows, about sending in the ‘cute girls.’ And yet, these officers, including the one who killed Christian, are still in uniform and have paid no price for their conduct.”

According to a 72-page report, an Internal Affairs investigation conducted by the Douglas County Sheriff’s office found the deadly use of force by Deputy Andrew Buen was not within Custer County Sheriff’s Office policy and procedure.

“The 72-page report painstakingly details Mr. Glass’s tragic loss of life, the excessive force against Mr. Glass, mistakes, and outright failures,” part of a statement from the Custer County Sheriff’s Office reads.

Deputy Buen is facing charges including second-degree murder. Deputy Kyle Gould was charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment.

Buen and Gould are scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 30.

To view the article in its entirety, visit www.kktv.com.