Former Colorado deputy gets 3 years in prison for fatally shooting man
who called for help
[April 15, 2025]
By COLLEEN SLEVIN
DENVER (AP) — A former Colorado sheriff’s deputy convicted of killing a
22-year-old man in distress who called 911 for help was sentenced Monday
to three years in prison, the maximum sentence, by a judge who said the
shooting was about power.
Andrew Buen was convicted in February of criminally negligent homicide
in the 2022 death of Christian Glass, which drew national attention and
prompted calls to reform how authorities respond to people with mental
health problems.
Prosecutors alleged that Buen needlessly escalated a standoff with
Glass, who showed signs of a mental health crisis and refused orders to
get out of his SUV near Silver Plume, a small, former mining town along
Interstate 70 in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver.
His parents and the agencies involved reached a $19 million settlement
that included crisis intervention training for officers responding to
people in distress.
Judge Catherine Cheroutes said Buen's sentence needed to address both
the loss of Glass and the damage done to the community by the shooting.
“I think this was about power. It wasn’t a mistake. It was about, ‘you
need to listen to me because I’m in charge,’” she said. She said she
believed Buen's family and supporters that he was a “shirt-off-your-back
kind of guy” but said he acted differently when he put on a uniform and
had a gun.
Buen, wearing an orange jail uniform, apologized to the Glass family,
dabbing his eyes with a tissue with his handcuffed hands as he spoke at
a podium.
Glass's family had questioned whether any remorse Buen might show would
be sincere. Buen, his voice shaking, said they had every right to feel
the way they do. He said his actions had escalated the standoff and told
the judge he wasn't “owed” anything.
“There are a million things I should have done better that night,” he
said before he was sentenced.
Sally Glass told Cheroutes that Buen had acted like a “bully” toward her
son, a creative and gentle artist who was born in his father’s native
New Zealand.
“He met evil that night and there was no compassion,” she said.
Simon Glass said his family's grief was compounded at first by
authorities initially describing his son as the aggressor in the
standoff, which the sheriff's office later apologized for. He said he
struggles with anxiety and has trouble referring to his son in the past
tense, but takes comfort that his son's name has been cleared, in part
because of body camera footage.
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Simon and Sally Glass comfort each other during an emotional news
conference about the death of their son, Christian Glass, in Denver,
Sept. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert, File)
Katie Glass said she and her mother try to always drive below the
speed limit to avoid being pulled over by the police. She said she
regrets watching the body camera footage showing her older brother's
final moments.
"He died terrified, in pain and all alone. That is what hurts me the
most,” she said.
Buen, a former deputy in Clear Creek County, was convicted after a
second trial.
Nearly a year ago, another jury convicted him of a misdemeanor for
recklessly putting other officers in danger by opening fire.
However, jurors could not agree on a murder charge or a charge of
official misconduct.
With the support of Glass’ family, prosecutors decided to try Buen
again on a second-degree murder charge. Jurors also had the option
of convicting him of the less serious charge of criminally negligent
homicide.
The defense argued that Glass had a knife and Buen was legally
justified in shooting him to protect a fellow officer.
After his SUV got stuck, Glass told a 911 dispatcher he was being
followed. He also made other statements suggesting he was paranoid,
hallucinating or delusional and experiencing a mental health crisis,
according to Buen’s indictment.
When Buen and other officers arrived, Glass refused to get out.
Video recorded by officers’ body cameras showed him making heart
shapes with his hands to the officers.
The officers fired bean bag rounds and shocked Glass with a Taser,
but that failed to make him exit the car. He then took a knife he
had offered to surrender at the beginning of the encounter and flung
it out a rear window, which had been broken by a bean bag, toward an
officer, according to the indictment. At that point Buen fired five
times at him.
“Lord, hear me, Lord, hear me,” Glass was heard saying moments
before he was shot.
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