Two officers involved in fatal shooting of Colorado man who called 911 for help after his SUV got stuck this summer was indicted by a county grand jury and fired from his job, officials said.
A grand jury on Wednesday returned an indictment against Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Deputies Andrew Buen and Kyle Gould, the office of Fifth Judicial District Attorney Heidi McCollum said in a news release.
Buen has been charged with second-degree murder, official misconduct and reckless endangerment, while Gould is charged with criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment in the fatal shooting of Christian Glass, 22, of Boulder, he said.
Bond was set at $50,000 for Buen and $2,500 for Gould. No lawyers appear to be listed for either. NBC News reached out to a LinkedIn account that appears to belong to Gould for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Buen’s coordinates could not be found.
The indictment comes nearly six months after Glass was fatally shot by a Clear Creek County sheriff’s deputy on June 11 in Silver Plume, according to attorneys for his family and the sheriff’s office.
Glass appeared to be holding a knife when he was shot five times after refusing to get out of his Honda Pilot for nearly 70 minutes, according to body camera footage and an autopsy report provided by his family’s attorney.
The 22-year-old had told a 911 dispatcher he had two knives, a hammer and a rubber mallet when asked if he had any weapons, according to call records. His family’s lawyers said he was an amateur geologist and used the knives, hammer and mallet for his hobby.
The Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office said as a result of Wednesday’s indictment, it terminated Buen and Gould’s employment.
“The Sheriff reaffirms his commitment to making the changes necessary to try to prevent a terrible situation like this from happening again in the future, to increase public confidence in the CCSO and to continue to pursue all opportunities to improvement,” he said in a statement.
In a June statement, the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office said deputies took a call for “motorist assistance” around 11:20 p.m. on June 10.
They arrived and found a single vehicle, which appeared to have been involved in an accident, he added. Glass “immediately became argumentative and uncooperative with MPs and armed himself with a knife,” the statement said.
“Additional law enforcement officers arrived and tried for over an hour to resolve the situation peacefully,” he added.
Deputies were able to break the windows of the vehicle and remove the knife, but “the suspect rearmed with a rock and a second knife,” the statement said. “MPs deployed less lethal beanbags and a Taser with negative results. The suspect eventually attempted to stab an officer and was shot.
An autopsy determined that he died of gunshot wounds. He was also shown to have a 0.01% BAC and THC in his system, as well as amphetamine, which the Denver-based law firm Rathod/Mohammedbhai representing his family previously had. said to be from a prescription to treat ADHD.
Rathod said Glass was most likely suffering from a mental breakdown when he made the first call to 911.
Video previously provided by Glass family attorneys appears to show an officer ordering Glass out of the car.
“Sir, I’m terrified,” Glass replies. The agents tell him he doesn’t need to be terrified and that they are there to help him.
Other officers later arrive and after about 67 minutes Glass makes what appears to be a heartfelt gesture with his hands towards the officers. A female voice is heard saying, “Same for you, but come out and talk to us.” Glass seems to blow kisses towards the officers.
Shortly after, an officer announces that the police are going to break into Glass’ SUV. The front passenger side window of the SUV is broken and officers can be heard ordering Glass to drop the knife. He is shot with beanbags as officers yell at him to drop the knife.
Glass is then shot with a stun gun and begins screaming hysterically.
Later, with knife in hand, Glass appears to turn to an officer shortly before he is shot. He then appears to stab himself before dropping the knife. Rathod previously said Glass’ stab wounds were superficial.
Deputies had asked Glass to leave the vehicle at least three dozen times during the encounter, body camera footage showed. They also discussed whether Glass may have been on drugs, injured in the crash, or had mental health issues.
Glass’ family of attorneys said in a statement Wednesday that while his loved ones are “relieved appropriate charges have been laid against some of those responsible” for their son’s death, “nothing will bring Christian back to his family.”
“Christian’s death is a stain on every officer who was present who failed to prevent the escalation and unnecessary use of force,” they said.
Buen and Gould are scheduled to appear in court in mid-December, McCollum’s office said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com