“We pray they never return,” said the family of the son killed by US police

The family of one 22 year old Christchurch born male hopes that the US police officers who killed him “will never return” to the force.

Five months after the murder of Christian Glass, who was shot after calling 911 for roadside assistanceColorado Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Buen has been charged with manslaughter. Officer Kyle Gould was charged with negligent homicide.

They were also indicted on charges of official misconduct at a grand jury trial in the United States on Wednesday (Thursday New Zealand time).

Glass’s family learned of the decision later that night through a statement from the sheriff and that the officers were in custody and had been fired from the police force.

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In a statement to Stuff on Friday, a spokesperson for the Glass family said they are “praying they never return” to the police force.

“The indictment is a great relief and this decision ends several weeks of worry for us,” the family said.

“Nothing can bring our son Christian back to us. The crushing pain of his loss is a constant in our lives. Our fervent hope is that those responsible for Christian’s murder will be held accountable for their actions.”

Christian Glass was born and partly raised in Christchurch before moving to the United States with his parents as a child.

The shooting took place on June 10 in Clear Creek County, Colorado, an hour’s drive from the family home.

The family said the state of Colorado was about the size and population of New Zealand, and that they had lived in a low-crime area where “we never imagined any of them in our worst nightmares.” [children] be killed.”

At a press conference in Sept Glass’s mother, Sally Glass, said she believed her son had gone through a mental health crisis during roadside assistance.

Body camera footage showed Glass refusing to leave his car – which was stuck on an embankment – when police arrived.

He told police he felt “terrified” and made a heart-shaped hand gesture to them, but refused to leave his vehicle.

Glass had told them he had two knives in the car and offered to throw them out the window, but the footage showed the officers telling him not to.

After an hour of negotiating with Glass to leave the vehicle, they decided he was uncooperative and broke the passenger window.

This seemed to panic Glass, who grabbed a small knife before being shot with bean bags and a stun gun.

Glass then pivoted in his seat to thrust a knife toward an officer approaching the rear driver’s window. Another officer fired his pistol and, according to the autopsy report, shot Glass six times.

The Glass family was grateful to all involved in bringing justice “not just to us, but to the community in which we live.”