LINK He Called 911 Because His Car Was Stuck. The Cops Killed Him.
He Called 911 Because His Car Was Stuck. The Cops Killed Him.
Police originally said the 22-year-old man was shot and killed while attempting to stab officers. New body-camera footage seems to show otherwise.
By Mack Lamoureux
September 14, 2022, 1:43pm
Body camera footage shows Colorado police shot and killed a young man who had called 911 for help after getting his car stuck on a dirt road, despite him never leaving his vehicle's driver seat.
Body-camera footage shows Colorado police shot and killed a young man who had called 911 for help after getting his car stuck on a dirt road, despite him never leaving his vehicle's driver seat.
Christian Glass, 22, was killed on June 1 by a Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office deputy during a mental health crisis, his parents said. He had called 911 after getting his SUV stuck and was hoping for assistance getting it pushed out. But over the course of the next hour, the responding officers threatened him, tased him, shot him with beanbags, and finally shot and killed him.
Glass’ family has retained lawyers to help fight for justice for their son. The lawyers, Siddhartha Rathod and Qusair Mohamedbhai, provided VICE News with several angles of the body-camera footage showing the shooting and a statement saying, “from beginning to end, the officers escalated and proactively initiated force.”
“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,” the lawyers wrote. “From beginning to end, the officers on the scene acted unconscionably and inhumanely.”
The lawyers also provided VICE News with the 911 call Glass made for help, which he ended by apologizing to the dispatcher, saying, “You’re my light right now. I’m really scared. I’m sorry.” Glass told the dispatcher that he had two knives and a hammer in his vehicle—something he carried with him as he was an amateur geologist—but he was adamant he wasn’t dangerous.
The bodycam footage shows the incident, which lasts about an hour and ten minutes, beginning with two police officers confronting Glass who has driven his red SUV slightly off the road. The officers repeatedly tell him to get out of the car, but Glass refuses to do so and tells the officers he’s “terrified” as they threaten to break his window. Glass offers to throw the knives and hammer out of the window, but the officers tell him not to do that and instead get out of the car.
As the officers get on either side of the vehicle and become agitated, Glass can be seen holding his hands up in the air to show he's unarmed. Glass told them the only way “I can be safe” was to remain in the car.
Eventually officers from five different branches arrive on scene. Several times Glass made a heart-like shape with his hands toward the officers, and at one point he blew kisses at the cops.
Colorado State Patrol contacted the officers on the scene and asked what “their plan is", adding "if he’s committed no crime and is not suicidal, homicidal, or a great danger, then there is no reason to contact him." Despite hearing this, officers continued to try to get Glass out of the vehicle.
Just over an hour into the situation, the officers on the scene decided to breach the vehicle, and one of the commanding officers there told Glass it “was time for the night to move on.” The officers smashed the glass on the passenger-side window. Glass picked up one of his knives as the police upped their aggression and several officers, including one standing on the hood of the car, trained their weapons on him. Through the passenger-side window, Glass was shot with a beanbag gun several times and began to flail in the SUV.
“Someone tase his ass,” an officer is heard saying in the video. “Someone tase him!”
An officer shoots Glass with a taser through the passenger window and the young man begins to scream and shake while holding the knife. One officer tells Glass he “can still save himself” if he drops the knife. Glass begins to yell “Lord, hear me.” As he flails around in the seat once more, an officer fires his handgun five times.
The officers then break the window and drag Glass' body from the vehicle. He died on the scene. Shortly after killing Glass, the police department released a statement saying he was shot while attempting to “stab” an officer while reaching over his seat and through a back window. They did not respond to a request for comment.
In the body-camera footage provided, it does not appear that Glass ever moved from the driver's seat of his vehicle.
“These officers took a gentle, peaceful soul and extinguished it simply because it was ‘time to move the night on,’” the Glass family lawyers wrote in their statement.
Glass’ family held a press conference on Sept. 13 in which his parents described him as a “gentle and polite boy” and a talented athlete, artist, and cook. The 22-year-old was born in New Zealand and held United States, New Zealand, and U.K. citizenship. Glass’ father said he is “very proud of what he had done with his short life” and that he left the family with “a million memories.” His mother said he “gave the best hugs” and “embraced the beauty in nature.” . His parents have strongly disputed the way police described how the situation occurred. They said their son was "petrified by fear" and was in the midst of a mental health crisis. An autopsy report shows Glass was not intoxicated or on any drugs.
“It has been three months since Christian’s killing,” said his father. “We have been more than patient and have made no public statement before now. Christian’s killing is a stain on Clear Creek County and Colorado. It was a murder by Colorado officials.”
“They should be protecting us, not attacking us.”
“The act of simply calling 911 for help cannot be a death sentence.”
The family is calling upon “the Fifth Judicial District, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, and the United States Attorney General’s Office to prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law.” The family’s lawyers allege the officer who went to investigate Glass’ death intentionally muted his body camera. They say that the officer who shot and killed Glass was back out on the street in days—something Glass' mother dubbed "disgusting."
Clear Creek County District Attorney Heidi McCollum released a statement on Tuesday saying she was investigating the incident with the help of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Glass is but the latest in a long string of deaths in which the person who called authorities for help was killed.
“Our country cannot continue to tolerate this level of extreme violence by law enforcement,” Glass’ family lawyers wrote. “The act of simply calling 911 for help cannot be a death sentence.”
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21 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Never trust any cop to do the right thing. They are not sufficiently trained to do the job asked of them, and way too many authoritarian assholes seek out this profession so they can torture and murder people with impunity.
Redheadedgammy
Level 9
Sep 14, 2022
14
The officers should be convicted of murder.
nogod4me
Level 8
Sep 14, 2022
13
I very much doubt it will happen. I regard America as the Land of the Free ... free to extort, free to torture and free to murder.
@SeaGreenEyez Thank you.
Lawlessness enforced by lawless people in uniform. Welcome to America, a very third world country.
anglophone
Level 9
Sep 14, 2022
14
More like Third rate, which is worse.
Never see a post where a police officer saves someone’s life which far outweighs the ones that take a life .
HarrySlick
Level 7
Sep 15, 2022
14
This site is is ripe with police hating nitwits .They complain about the police but the crime rate is going up every day .
@howdy1 Thank you for calling me a nitwit. I thank you also for flaunting your cognitive deficiencies.
@howdy1 Becoming a police office is a choice and it was once a noble profession. As keepers of the peace their job was to protect and serve. Respect is earned by engaging with the community they serve. Too many times they disengage and are arrogant, demanding respect by instilling fear. By doing so they have distanced themselves from communities and inspired hatred instead of respect.
There was a time when an officer retired and could claim with pride that they never had to fire their weapon. These days I doubt that many officers can make that claim.
The title of “police” should not be a word citizen’s fear, yet that is the reality. The stories of abuse outweigh the stories of valor and common decency and community involvement. The good officers are overshadowed by the aggressive ones.
@anglophone That’s exactly what you are nitwits!
@SeaGreenEyez Are you for real just google cop saves life and literally thousands of stories will be displayed you cop hating wastrel
So it's ok if they decided to kill innocent people today because last week they did a good thing?
@Emanuele Isn't that what police should be. Keeping the peace, de-escalating intense situations, saving lives, and be an inspiration in their communities by earning their trust and confidence?
There are too many stories of police abusing their authority with arrogance and impatience. They will use excessive and even deadly force to end a conflict when other methods are available. These stories should be rare not the norm.
Where is the outcry of the "good police" against the abuses? Are they not complicit with their silence?
@howdy1 I don't hate the police. I hate improperly trained police. I hate police with mental issues. I hate police who would rather shoot than negotiate. People die every day at the hands of "GOOD POLICE". Innocent people who were simply living their lives when some bully with a bulletproof vest and a gun decides he should end that life.
@TheoryNumber3 Your brilliant points are way beyond what these guys are capable of understanding. And if they are, they don't want to, so it's falling on deaf ears, except for us other folks.
@anglophone I blocked that idiot. No need to read his rude bullshit.
There are a few bad cops out there but there are a lot more good honorable ones especially here in Oklahoma.
Trajan61
Level 8
Sep 16, 2022
12
Well said. Amazing and disturbing how many people on this site hate police and any type of law-enforcement. What does this say about their intellect. Mostly liberal demoshits. Is it a coincidence that most democratic run cities have the highest crime rates I don’t think so, because they are overrun with cop hating wastrels.
I'm a liberal and I actually agree that most cops are okay. But the ones mentioned in this post are fucked up.
@Flyingsaucesir No doubt about that.
Let’s see ,to all the individuals that despise the cops and hate them all due to a few of the bad apples ,maybe we should do away with the police and have street justice like they do in parts of Africa and other areas of the underdeveloped world and hand out punishments by the citizens themselves .
bebe12
Level 6
Sep 16, 2022
11
That's ridiculous. We need law enforcement. But what we don't need is lunatic cops who don't know how to de-escalate a situation like this.
@TheoryNumber3 Do you actually think I meant this seriously of doing away with the police .It was said to show the stupidity of this disgusting show of hatred toward the police and what would happen if we did not have the police to protect us
@bebe12 Oops... my bad. That's what I get for skimming instead of reading.
^5 to you! 
@bebe12 awe yes, another idiot to block!
Unfortunately the US police are a law unto themselves. A percentage of people who are attracted to the job are thugs and murders.
Jolanta
Level 9
Sep 15, 2022
9
That's what I keep saying.
OK, let's shorten this down. A young man who is afraid to come out of his car shakes and shows a knife so a cop shot him 5 times. That stupid act is going to cost the authorities a lot of money. I hope they pay dearly.
DenoPenno
Level 9
Sep 15, 2022
9
And the one who killed him is back on the street, Why? It's on film!
CRAP! That's just horrible! When I first started reading this I'm thinking geez just call AAA. But when I realized he is having a mental issue and clearly not a threat and the cops are the ones escalating the situation I got really scared for this kid and then they fucking shoot him! I hope the parents succeed with their case. In the long run something has to change we can't keep having this sort of thing occur again and again.
silverotter11
Level 9
Sep 14, 2022
8
There are some good cops. Yet overall it is an unjustified system and people are more afraid of the cops than they are of the criminals
All I’ll say is this. I don’t care who you are, or what you are……if someone I love is ever hurt or killed by anyone, including a cop……you will be fuckin’ sorry one way or the other, because there always is a way to get someone. look at Jimmy Hoffa as a good example, or these recent ‘mysterious’ disappearance of Russian Businessmen as examples of what I mean.
CuddyCruiser
Level 8
Sep 14, 2022
8
This anti police rhetoric is causing INCREASED crime due to the police not willing or fear of interactions involving proactive policing . This was discussed in various articles and news reports.
howdy1
Level 5
Sep 17, 2022
8
I disagree. The anti police rhetoric is because the police undertrained and get their thrills out of "policing" and showing force. "Protect and Defend" means keep the "riffraff" in line, and if you're not a cop and god forbid not white and male you're all riffraff.
@HippieChick58 BULLSHIT Do some research before giving your idiotic baseless opinion
@HippieChick58 These two guys are not interested in discussing anything, and howdy can piss off for being so vulgar and rude to you. If this was Nextdoor his account would be suspended; this medium should be no different. I'm not even going to bother to talk to him, but I'm sure I'll have to block him when he attacks me for standing up for you and civil discourse. Anyone who reads about this incident and comes to his conclusions has some big problems we can't solve here.
@HippieChick58 It seems we have a whole bunch of new people posting bullshit and agreeing with each other Paula. Probably best not to engage with them.
In almost every police organization, there is at least one person who is carrying a gun and is just itching to shoot somebody.
mischl
Level 8
Sep 15, 2022
7
Yeah well you put that kind of power in the hands of an otherwise regular person in this heated world and it's tempting for them to play their own little version of god. A police officer needs to be more than just a person willing to kill supposedly while following the rules. laws and policies of the force. They often don't do that.
Fucking cops!
BitFlipper
Level 8
Sep 15, 2022
5
Exactly how I feel about cops.
It is hard to screen potential officers to weed out the ones who are just itching to shoot somebody. I do think greater efforts need to be made to weed out potential bad cops before they actually become cops.
snytiger6
Level 9
Sep 15, 2022
4
More education being required would help. Cops should need AT LEAST an Associate's degree.
Without reading any of this, I'm betting the guy was black.
Sgt_Spanky
Level 8
Sep 14, 2022
4
You are wrong. Read the article.
It's weird but while I understand that, I wasn't thinking it. For whatever reason I thought the guy was white.
@AlbertSchepis He was a young white male.
@HippieChick58 Interesting.
@AlbertSchepis I think maybe sad and tragic are more fitting, or frightening...
@HippieChick58 I meant that it allows us to take in the bigger picture that we have a problem with general blood lust not restricted to racial hatred. All the ways in which it manifests: political, cultural, racial, national, are avenues people seem to conveniently use to rationalize it. That's what I meant by interesting. But to your point, yes of course it's extremely tragic. I mean it boils down to: He called for help, so they shot him. It just doesn't get much worse than that, unless you're talking about Putins' war crimes.
OMG that was painful to watch. That poor kid did everything possible to cooperate and he's dead.
There are good cops and there are bad cops. These are a perfect example of the latter. The kid was terrified from the very beginning and rightly so.
TheoryNumber3
Level 8
Sep 18, 2022
3
911 is for emergencies, like if your car is stuck and need help.
Oh wait...
AlbertSchepis
Level 7
Sep 18, 2022
3
Yikes. Those cops are literally fatally stupid.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
Sep 16, 2022
3
No, they are homicidally stupid. Not to mention cruel. These men should no longer be cops.
@HippieChick58 For sure.
The police attract mentally disturbed people from homes with authoritarian parents. And they behave with the self-righteous arrogance of their parents.
Abolish all police!
Create instead, Public Safety Departments. No ranks. No uniforms. And only one Model 10 S&W Barney Fife revolver, with one bullet each. Then treat them as any other Municipal agency, such as Parks Department, Sewer Department, etc.
And make them multi-task. One day, they go out as EMTs. The next, they clean bird droppings off picnic tables. The next, they clean sewers. That would take away all the attraction from bullies and psychopaths!
Until then, there are no "good cops". Only PIGS!
davknight
Level 8
Sep 19, 2022
2
Talking about mentally disturbed people I guess it takes one to no one.
@HarrySlick To 'know" one, you fucking idiot.
I find it disturbing you'd defend the killing of the person who MADE THE 911 CALL. There was no way the cops could've mistaken him for anybody else.
And on top of that, your response here provides no reason why you disagree.
Nope. Just a cheap shot.
What the fuck good are you?
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