Colorado Man Was Killed by Police After Calling 911

Family of Christian Glass wants officers charged
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 15, 2022 2:00 AM CDT
Colorado Man Was Fatally Shot by Police After Calling 911
This image provided by Sally Glass shows her son Christian Glass, right, sitting with his father, Simon Glass, in Colorado on March 11, 2021.   (Sally Glass via AP)

A Colorado 22-year-old called 911 on June 11, asking for help after he got his SUV stuck on a road in Silver Plume. Seventy minutes after police arrived on the scene, officers fatally shot him. Now, the family of Christian Glass is calling for the officers involved to be charged, NBC News reports. The family's lawyers say Glass appeared to be suffering a mental health crisis during the incident, and that police "unconscionably and inhumanely" escalated the situation unnecessarily, resulting in Glass' death, 9 News reports. Bodycam video, newly released by the family, has also shed new light on the disturbing incident. (The video, which is graphic, can be viewed here.)

Glass is audibly scared in the 911 call, and tells the dispatcher so; when police arrive on the scene, he tells them the same. Despite police repeatedly asking him to exit his SUV, which he'd crashed into a bush and gotten stuck in a pile of rocks, Glass refused, saying he was too scared to exit. He'd admitted having two knives, a hammer, and a rubber mallet (which his family says he used for geology), and police say that toward the end of the encounter, after an officer broke Glass's window, Glass threatened them with a knife. Beanbags and a Taser were used on him before he was eventually shot five times. "The act of simply calling 911 for help cannot be a death sentence," the family's lawyers say in a statement. (More Colorado stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X