GOLDEN, Colo. (Court TV) — A former town council member accused of shooting a teenager in the face began his trial this week.
Brent Metz, 40, is charged with second-degree assault, illegal discharge of a firearm and two counts of felony menacing in connection with the September 2024 shooting of Jack Howard, who was 17 years old at the time. Howard, who survived being shot in the face, was with his then-15-year-old friend, Luke, when they were scouting a location for a photo shoot. The teenagers came upon a lake near Metz’s property and jumped a fence so they could ask Metz if they could use his property as a backdrop for the photos.
While the teens sat in their parked car, which was not on Metz’s property, Metz allegedly fired into the car, hitting Howard in the face.
Brent Metz leaving court with his attorney (KUSA).
During opening statements on Wednesday, prosecutor Chris Johnson outlined the events of Sept. 10, 2024, when Howard and his friend arrived at Metz’s property after Luke wanted to “do something special for his girlfriend” for homecoming. Once they found “the perfect spot,” they realized it was on someone else’s property and went to ask the homeowner for permission to take pictures there.
Johnson said the boys heard music coming from a barn and went up to the door to knock on it. When no one answered, they left to go back to their car. “This is the extent of their intrusion,” Johnson said. “They picked the wrong house. And they picked the wrong people.”
Metz, Johnson told the court, was watching the boys on surveillance cameras the whole time from an app on his phone. He told his girlfriend, who called 911 and told dispatchers that there were kids “all over the place.” Neither Metz nor his girlfriend were on the property, and Metz’s girlfriend assured the dispatcher that Metz would stay off the property when they got home. But that is not what happened, Johnson said. Instead, Metz and his girlfriend allegedly decided to “box in these boys. They’re gonna keep them from leaving. They’re gonna trap them.”
But Metz “doesn’t just trap these boys there. He brings a gun. He brings a 9 mm handgun that has a live round in the chamber, ready to go.” Johnson added, “He came in hot.”
In the defense’s opening statement, Metz’s defense attorney David Jones told the court that his client’s intent “was not to assault” the teens or “menace” them. Jones said that when Metz got out of his truck to ask the boys what they were doing on his property, he moved his handgun into his hip holster. But when Metz exited the truck, “his left foot didn’t find the ground quite where he thought it would be.”
Jones told the court that the gun went off “without his attention and without his command.”
When it came to the actions of the teens, Jones said they had an “innocent purpose,” that their biggest mistake was “minor trespassing. No big deal.” He added, “They were doing nothing wrong. Everyone in this courtroom will agree that they did not deserve to be shot at.”
Jones said that even after speaking to his girlfriend and telling her to call 911 upon seeing someone they did not know on their property, his intent was not to cause violence.
According to the criminal complaint, one of the teens told police that Metz reportedly exclaimed, “My gun went off!” after the single shot.
Metz has pleaded not guilty to all four charges against him.
