Former sheriff’s deputy convicted of misdemeanor in shooting death of Christian Glass
DENVER — A former Colorado sheriff’s deputy was convicted Friday of a felony in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old man in distress who called 911 for help after his car became stuck in a small mountain community.
Andrew Buen was also charged with second-degree murder and official misconduct in the 2022 death of Christian Glass, which drew national attention and prompted calls for police reform focused on crisis intervention. But jurors could not reach a verdict on those charges, finding him guilty only of reckless endangerment, which is typically punishable by up to four months in prison, The Denver Post reported.
A conviction for second-degree murder would carry a prison sentence of years.
Prosecutors alleged Buen unnecessarily escalated a standoff with Glass, who was showing signs of a mental health crisis. But the defense said Buen shot Glass to protect a fellow officer, making the shooting legally justified.
A second officer charged in Glass’ death previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge. Six other officers have been accused of failing to intervene.
District Attorney Heidi McCollum still has the option to pursue charges against Buen for murder and official misconduct. She said Friday she expects to make a decision within weeks.
An attorney for the Glass family said the family would like the prosecution to continue.
“The jury found that Deputy Buen’s conduct was criminal,” Siddhartha Rathod said. “The jury found Deputy Buen guilty of reckless endangerment. And it’s one step closer to getting justice for Christian. Deputy Buen will once again face a jury of his colleagues.”
Glass called for help after his SUV became stuck on a dirt road in Silver Plume. He told a dispatcher he was being followed and made other statements suggesting he was paranoid, hallucinating or delusional and experiencing a mental health crisis, according to Buen’s criminal complaint.
When Buen and other officers arrived, Glass refused to get out of his car. Officers’ body camera footage showed Glass making heart shapes with his hands at the officers and praying, “Dear Lord, please don’t let them break the window.”
In closing arguments on Wednesday, prosecutors said Buen decided from the start that Glass should get out of the vehicle and shouted commands at him 46 times in about 10 minutes. The prosecutor claims Buen had no legal justification to force Glass to leave, even if there was a suspected case of drunk driving.
They fired beanbag rounds and shocked him with a Taser, but those efforts failed to get Glass to leave. He then grabbed a knife he had offered to surrender at the beginning of the encounter and threw it out a rear window, which had been broken by a bean bag, at another officer, Randy Williams, according to the complaint. At that moment, Buen shot Glass five times.
Glass simply responded after being treated “like a caged animal being poked and prodded,” and the knife never touched Williams, prosecutor Heidi McCollum told jurors during closing arguments in Idaho Springs.
Attorney Carrie Slinkard faults prosecutors for failing to investigate whether Glass had behavioral or psychological problems that could explain his behavior, whether drugs had played a role, or whether both factors could have contributed.
Glass’ mother, Sally Glass, has previously said her son suffers from depression and was recently diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She said he “had a mental health episode” during his interaction with police.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Stephen Potts, who described Glass as a “terrified kid,” said it didn’t matter what sparked the crisis.
“He was in some kind of crisis,” he said. “Is this how we expect people in a crisis to be treated?”