Clear Creek County Sheriff Rick Albers said he is stepping down from his job “with mixed emotions” after 43 years of service, which included the controversy over the shooting death of Christian Glass.

In a Facebook post July 12, he thanked the community.

“It has meant the world to me to be the recipient of so much love, encouragement, and support during this time,” he said.

One of Albers’ deputies shot and killed Glass while he was experiencing a mental health crisis after getting his car stuck on a remote mountain road near Silver Plume. 

A Clear Creek County grand jury indicted Kyle Gould and Andy Buen on criminal charges in Glass’ death November 23. The 22 year-old was shot five times, allegedly by Buen, during an intense and lengthy standoff in the early morning hours of June 11, 2022.

Gould gave the order to breach the window of Glass’ car, but was not present when the 22-year-old was shot.

There were seven officers on scene the night Glass was killed. The Glass family has expressed disappointment that not all of them were charged in Christian’s  death. 

Buen and Gould were fired after the Thanksgiving Eve indictment. They are being tried together and their next hearing scheduled for a status conference next month. Buen is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree official misconduct and reckless endangerment. Gould is facing negligent homicide and reckless endangerment for his role as the supervisor that night.

June 6, the Board of Clear Creek County Commissioners stopped short of asking for Albers’ resignation, but said in a statement that he “had not adequately accepted responsibility for his central role in this tragedy.”

The statement also insisted that he had not shown the need to correct problems within the department by addressing “gaps in training and protocols that existed at the time of Christian’s death.” 

Simon and Sally Glass recently won a $19 million legal settlement from four agencies, the largest of its kind known in Colorado history. In a statement through their attorneys, they said that it was Albers’ responsibility to supervise, train and discipline his officers and that he hadn’t apologized “in a meaningful way.” 

Albers did write Glass’ family an apology acknowledging that “his officers failed to meet expectations in their response” to their son’s dilemma, but they said that he did not take responsibility in the letter. 

In an earlier interview with The Denver Gazette, Simon Glass said that Albers also apologized to them face-to-face.

Albers’ social media resignation received nearly 140 comments and was shared three dozen time by friends and citizens thanking him for years of service not only with the sheriffs department, but also for his work with a number of mountain search and rescue teams. 

Albers was last elected Nov. 2022 and was set to serve until 2026. His last day is Aug. 3. Clear Creek County Sheriffs have not announced a replacement. Albers did not return a phone call from The Denver Gazette seeking comment.