Why Did He Die?

Police officers in Colorado shot and killed a terrified young man whose car got stuck in a dirt road after he had called police and asked for their assistance.

Police did not have to take his life to resolve this matter or to protect themselves. It an incidents like this that causes community members to disrespect and distrust their police.

Christian Glass, age 22, makes a “heart” hand sign shortly before his death by a Colorado police officer on June 10, 2022.

View the hour-long body cam video below.

The 22 year old man, Christian Glass, clearly showed signs of being in a mental health crisis before one of the many police officers at the scene escalated the situation and fatally shot him. Officers had spent more than an hour engaging with Glass before he was shot multiple times. Clear Creek is about 45 miles west of Denver.

This is a tragic situation in which numerous mistakes were made by police officers on the scene. In no way, should this young man have been killed. He exhibited behaviors which to a trained police officer should have continued to work to de-escalate this situation. Glass’s vehicle was stuck. He had nowhere to go and was not armed with a firearm.

This clearly was a mental health event. No crime was committed. What was the rush to extricate the young man? Why the uses of force and the final decision to take his life?

Read the New York Times report concerning this event HERE.

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