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DENVER — The family of a 22-year-old man who was shot and killed by a Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputy in June has hired an attorney and is pressing for more information about why the young man was shot.
Christian Glass, 22, was shot and killed on Main Street in Silver Plume sometime a little after midnight on June 11. Dispatch had received a call a 11:21 p.m. on June 10 regarding a “motorist assist,” as the sheriff’s office said back in June.
The sheriff’s office said on June 11 that Glass, who was not identified at the time, had become “argumentative and uncooperative.” Undersheriff Bruce Snelling said the man was armed with a knife.
Snelling said in June deputies broke out the car window and took a knife from the man before he grabbed another knife and a rock. Snelling said deputies used less-lethal options, including bean bag rounds and a Taser, but they had “negative results.”
“The suspect eventually tried to stab an officer and was shot. The suspect was pronounced deceased on scene,” Snelling said in the June 11 news release.
But Glass’s family has hired the law firm Rathod Mohamedbhai LLC in the case, saying they have questions about why deputies shot and killed the young man. The law firm released body camera video of Glass’s shooting, and the 911 call that led to the response by deputies, Tuesday morning.
The attorneys and families are expected to discuss the shooting at a news conference at 11 a.m. in Denver.
Family seeking answers about why man, 22, was shot and killed by deputies in Silver Plume
According to the attorneys, Glass called 911 after he got his vehicle stuck on an embankment in Silver Plume. He told the dispatcher he had two knives, a hammer and rubber mallet in his vehicle with him, which he said he would throw out of the window once deputies arrived. The attorneys said they were related to his work as an amateur geologist.
Body camera video provided by the attorneys show two Clear Creek County deputies arriving and Glass telling them he can’t get out of his car. He puts his keys on the dashboard, according to the video, after which point a deputy ordered him out of his vehicle. Glass tells the deputies he is scared.
Video provided by the attorneys show one of the deputies telling Glass he will break the window out of the vehicle about three minutes after they arrived at scene. Glass is seen asking them not to break out the window.
At one point, the deputies draw their handguns when they see a knife in Glass’s lap, which Glass threw to the other side of the vehicle. Glass tells the deputies that it’s the only way he feels safe is inside of the vehicle. The deputy at one point tells dispatch there was a “possible psych issue going on.”
About 17 minutes after arriving, other deputies and officers arrive, and other continue to arrive, according to the video. At one point, according to the video, a Colorado State Patrol trooper said there was no point in contacting Glass because he had not committed a crime.
About 52 minutes after the first deputies arrive, the law enforcement officers on scene start trying to get into the vehicle, according to the video. The breach was made around 68 minutes after the first deputies arrived.
Video shows deputies have guns pointed at him and are saying that Glass has a knife in his hand. The video shows bean bags being fired and a Taser being used on him while he screams and deputies continue to tell him to drop the knife.
As he screamed, “Lord hear me,” a deputy fires shots at him through the front-passenger side of the windshield, according to the video.
About a minute later, they pull Glass out of the car, and he is seen bleeding and mostly unresponsive. The attorneys claim the Clear Creek County deputy who arrived after the shooting to investigate it “strategically mutes his body-worn camera during critical parts of the investigation,” which the video provided by the attorneys appears to confirm when the deputy says, “Muting for a private conversation.”
Video shows Glass lying dead underneath a sheet in the video. Tampering with a body camera video intentionally in Colorado is a violation of state statute.
Glass died at the scene of the shooting. Snelling, the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office undersheriff, said in June the Colorado Bureau of Investigation was investigating the shooting. It is not clear where that investigation stands currently, but the attorneys said the deputy involved in the shooting is back on patrol.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office and CBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment and information for this story, which will be updated.
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