Two Colorado parents say they want prosecutors to file criminal charges after their 22-year-old son was shot by police during an apparent mental health crisis in June.
Body camera footage released this week shows police smashing Christian Glass’ car window and a Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputy firing five bullets at Glass while he was inside his car.
The incident happened after Glass called 911 for roadside assistance in the small mountain town of Silver Plume, Colorado, about 45 miles west of Denver.
The case is renewing calls from advocates that police should prioritize de-escalation when responding to mental health crises, rather than reacting with force.
Context: Advocates say the police are not best suited to handle the myriad of mental health-related calls they receive — calls that advocates say are connected to law enforcement because mental health services are sorely lacking.
Up to 50 percent of fatal encounters with law enforcement involve someone with a mental illness, according to a 2016 study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine.
In Denver and New York, behavioral health specialists are dispatched to 911 callers facing crises that police may not be trained to address or may even exacerbate.
What happened in June: After the death of Christian Glass on June 11, the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release saying that Glass was shot after he became “argumentative and uncooperative” and tried to stab a officer when police broke a car window to get him.
But body camera footage shows Glass pleading with officers and at one point disarming herself by throwing her knives out the window of her car.
What’s happening now: Colorado’s Fifth Judicial District, which includes Clear Creek County, said it is investigating the case along with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. They plan to eventually issue a report on the shooting or present the case to a grand jury, which will decide whether to issue charges.
Advocates say a de-escalation was needed
Police have not said if any behavioral health specialists were called for Glass.
Use-of-force and de-escalation experts who reviewed the footage said the case is an example of when a behavioral health specialist or crisis response team (the programs are becoming more popular across the country) can to have helped de-escalate the situation and avoid Glass. ‘ death.
“There are some real red flags that suggest potential problems,” said Seth Stoughton, a former police officer and leading use-of-force expert who reviewed portions of the footage. Stoughton testified at the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer who killed George Floyd.
Siddhartha Rathod, the lawyer for Christian’s parents, Simon and Sally Glass, said Glass had no history of mental illness.
Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, has proposed legislation aimed at helping more police departments create and fund teams that pair police officers with mental health workers.
The effort would use existing COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services Funding) grants that can be used for a wide variety of local policing efforts. Much of the money is available to help communities hire more officers or improve school security.
What happened on the night of June 11?
Body camera footage shows a sheriff’s deputy firing five rounds at Christian Glass after he was shot with a bean bag and hit with a stun gun.
The footage shows Glass refusing to get out of his car while also telling police he’s “terrified” and making heart shapes with his hands at officers. At one point, he can also be seen praying with folded hands saying, “Dear Lord, please don’t let them break the window.”
When officers broke the window, Glass appeared to panic and grabbed a knife.
Police then shot Glass with a bag of coffee beans and tased him with a stun gun before the young man twisted in his seat and swung a knife at an officer, according to the footage. An officer then fired his weapon, striking Glass. The recordings then show that Glass stabbed himself before he died.
An autopsy report released by the family’s attorney found Glass had THC, a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.01 percent and amphetamine in his system, the latter of which Rathod said he obtained from ‘an ADHD prescription by Glass.
“Christian was having a seizure and called 911 for help,” Rathod said. “And yet these officers smashed Christian’s window, shot him six times with bean bags, tasered him multiple times with two Tasers, and then shot him five times.”
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation handles police shootings, including the Glass case, but the family wants prosecutors to file criminal charges, Rathod said.
The family demands responsibility
At a tearful news conference Tuesday, Christian’s mother, Sally Glass, displayed a pendant of Jesus recovered from her son’s car engraved with the words, “Pray for us.”
“We need to pray for us in America to make this a less violent country,” said Sally Glass. “I think a lot of people would now agree that there’s a systemic problem with the police: they’re too aggressive. They escalate at every opportunity, and they seem to be spoiling for a fight. … They should be protecting us, not attacking us.”
Glass said her son was “petrified” and “paralyzed” with fear the night he was killed.
“I have a hole in my heart and it’s going to be there until the day I die,” Glass said.
Contributing: Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY; Associated Press
