Brent Metz Trial: Charges, Verdict, and Sentencing

A Jefferson County jury convicted former Mountain View town council member Brent Metz on June 1, 2026, of illegal discharge of a firearm and third-degree assault for shooting a 17-year-old in the face on his Conifer property. The Brent Metz trial ended with acquittals on two counts of menacing, and Metz was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was read.¹

The shooting happened on September 10, 2024, when Jack Howard and his 15-year-old friend Luke Brookhouser drove into the mountains near Conifer to scout homecoming photo locations. They hopped a fence, walked to the home to ask permission, got no answer, and headed back to their car. Metz’s girlfriend saw them on security cameras, called 911, and was told not to approach until deputies arrived. Metz drove there anyway, blocked the teens’ Audi with his truck, stepped out with a Sig Sauer P320, and a single shot went through the windshield into Howard’s face.²³

The Charges Metz Faced

The First Judicial District Attorney’s Office charged Metz on September 17, 2024, with four counts: second-degree assault (a class 4 felony crime of violence), illegal discharge of a firearm (a class 5 felony), and two counts of menacing (class 5 felonies), one for each teen. He pleaded not guilty in late April 2025.⁴⁵

What the Jury Heard

Trial began May 27, 2026, before District Judge Russell Klein and ran about a week.¹

The Prosecution

Deputy District Attorney Christopher Johnson and Senior Deputy District Attorney Brian Hassing called it a “clear case of reckless assault.” In his opening, Johnson told jurors Metz had watched the teens on his security video and drove up knowing they had done nothing threatening: “He came in hot… he decided, rather than to wait for law enforcement, that he was going to teach these boys a lesson and approached them aggressively.”³

Both teens testified. Howard, now 19, told jurors he thought he was going to die, tasting blood and bullet fragments in his mouth. He also said he did not believe Metz shot him intentionally and that Metz tried to help him out of the car afterward.⁶ Brookhouser testified he saw Metz aim the handgun at Howard. Prosecutors emphasized that both accounts had stayed consistent from the scene through hospital interviews to trial two years later.⁷

A treating emergency physician testified Howard’s injuries carried a “substantial risk of death and permanent disfigurement.” Three large bullet fragments were surgically removed, and Howard testified he still has trouble breathing through one nostril, intermittent vision loss in his left eye, and recurring nosebleeds.⁸

The prosecution’s firearms expert, engineer Derek Watkins, examined Metz’s specific P320 and testified it functioned as designed and would not fire without a trigger pull. He called the defense’s malfunction demonstration a “parlor trick” that required partially pulling the trigger to defeat the gun’s safeties.⁹

The Defense

Metz did not claim self-defense and did not invoke Colorado’s “make my day” law. Attorneys David Jones and Christopher Decker built the case entirely around a malfunctioning-gun theory, portraying Metz as an Air Force veteran and former Eagle Scout trained in firearm safety.¹⁰

Metz took the stand. He testified he was moving the P320 from a truck holster to a hip holster when he lost his footing, and that the gun discharged against his belly without his intention. He said his finger was never on the trigger and that he “did not feel threatened or in danger.” Of Howard’s injuries, he said, “I wish I could absorb that pain for them.”¹¹

Gun shop owner and firearms instructor Edward Wilks testified for the defense that the P320 is “a trainwreck” and said he could make Metz’s specific pistol discharge without pulling the trigger by touching its side. The P320 has drawn hundreds of uncommanded-discharge complaints and is the subject of a 2025 Washington state class action; Sig Sauer maintains the pistol “cannot, under any circumstances, discharge without a trigger pull.”¹⁰¹²

What the Split Verdict Says

After about a day of deliberation, the jury convicted Metz on the illegal discharge count (class 5 felony) and on third-degree assault, a class 1 misdemeanor treated as a lesser included offense of the original second-degree assault charge. It acquitted him on both menacing counts.¹

The mixed outcome tracked a middle path. By acquitting on menacing, the jury rejected the prosecution’s theory that Metz intentionally threatened the teens. By convicting on the lesser assault count rather than the felony second-degree charge, it also rejected the pure-accident defense while stopping short of finding that he recklessly caused serious bodily injury with a deadly weapon.⁹

Sentencing and What Comes Next

Metz was handcuffed in the courtroom after the verdict. His attorneys objected and said they would file a motion for a new trial.¹

Illegal discharge of a firearm as a class 5 felony carries a presumptive one to three years in prison, two years of mandatory parole, and a possible fine of $1,000 to $100,000 under Colorado law.¹³ Third-degree assault, classified as an extraordinary-risk class 1 misdemeanor here, carries up to 18 months in jail. Sentencing was set for June 15, 2026.⁹ Howard has filed a civil suit against Metz that was placed on hold pending the criminal case.⁷

The Recall That Preceded the Trial

Metz was 38 and serving on the Mountain View town council at the time of the shooting. Community members launched a recall citing “a significant loss of trust, safety concerns, and recent criminal charges.” On the ballot, Metz maintained his innocence and asked residents to “trust the legal system.”¹⁴ At the May 20, 2025 special election, voters removed him 128 to 72, and Ryan Debner was elected to the seat.⁵

1
Colorado Public Radio. Brent Metz Found Guilty of Shooting Teen
2
Courthouse News Service. Jury Deliberates Case Over Shooting of Teen Seeking Homecoming Photo Site
3
Colorado Public Radio. Mountain View Shooting Trial
4
First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Brent Metz Charged
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The Denver Post. Mountain View Town Council Brent Metz Shooting
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Colorado Politics. Jeffco Teen Shot in Face Recounts Shooting During Trial
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The Denver Post. Brent Metz Jeffco Shooting Trial
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Denver7. Teen Shot by Former Town Council Member Testifies in Jefferson County Trial
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Denver7. Brent Metz Trial: Jury to Decide if Conifer Man Was Reckless or if Gun Was Defective in Teen Shooting
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Courthouse News Service. Jury Finds Colorado Man Guilty of Firearm Felony After Shooting Teen Scouting for Photos
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Denver7. Defendant Who Shot Teen in Face Takes Stand, Testifies Gun Malfunctioned
12
ClassAction.org. Sig Sauer P320 Pistols Extraordinarily Dangerous Due to Defect, Class Action Says
13
Justia. Colorado Revised Statutes Section 18-1.3-401
14
CBS News Colorado. Former Colorado Councilman Brent Metz Accused of Shooting Teen Going to Trial