Colorado councilman cried “My gun went off!” after shooting teen looking for homecoming photo spot, deputy says

A town councilman who shot a 17-year-old boy in the face as the teen was scouting for a scenic spot to take homecoming photos exclaimed “My gun went off!” after he stepped out of his truck and pulled a handgun from its holster, according to court records. 

Brent Metz, 38, who is on the council for the tiny town of Mountain View, pointed his gun at the two teenagers but might not have intended to pull the trigger, according to an arrest affidavit written by a Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy. 

The teenager, who had wounds to his mouth and nose and was bleeding profusely, told the deputy that he didn’t think Metz meant to shoot him. The boy said he didn’t see the gun, but heard the shot and then realized he was bleeding. “I was going to die,” said the teen, who remains hospitalized after the Tuesday shooting in Conifer. 

The teen’s friend, who was in the passenger seat of the victim’s Audi S4, saw Metz pull his gun from its holster and point it at them. He ducked down. Then he heard the windshield shatter and heard Metz say, “Oh shit, my gun went off!” 

The friend then jumped out of the car, ran to the driver’s side and pulled off his T-shirt so he could use it to apply pressure and try to stop the bleeding. Metz, the boy said, tried to help but the boy pushed him away and asked “why he shot his friend,” according to the affidavit. 

One of the teens picked up the other at Dakota Ridge High School in Littleton on Tuesday afternoon. The long-time friends left school with a mission to find a picturesque site for homecoming photos, beginning in Ken Caryl Valley and then going up Deer Creek Canyon. When they spotted the home on Pleasant Park Road with a lake and a dock, they decided to hop the fence and ask the homeowner for permission to return the night of the homecoming dance to take photos. 

The boys walked up a long driveway and knocked on the front door, but there was no answer, according to the affidavit. They told deputies they then went back to their car, which was parked along the road, and pulled out a school binder to start writing a note that they planned to leave for the homeowner. 

That’s when Metz arrived in his truck. He pulled in at an angle, blocking the Audi from pulling away, according to the court document.

Metz’s girlfriend had seen the two teens on the property via a home security system and had called the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. She also called Metz, who beat deputies to the property. 

Metz was arrested and booked into the Jefferson County Jail on charges of first-degree assault, felony menacing, illegal discharge of a firearm and reckless endangerment. 

While standing with the teens, Metz refused to say whether he had shot the teen and instead said he needed to talk to a lawyer. But Metz told the deputy where to find the gun, which was in his truck, according to the court document.

An initial scan at the hospital revealed the teen had a bullet fragment in his head, the affidavit said.