Two boys’ adventure scouting the Jefferson County foothills for the perfect spot to take homecoming photos in 2024 was shattered like the glass of their car’s windshield when a bullet came rushing in, striking one of the teens in the face.
Brent Metz, 40, faces four felony charges in the shooting: second-degree assault, illegal discharge of a firearm and two counts of felony menacing, according to court records.
But during opening statements in Metz’s jury trial Tuesday morning, defense attorney David Jones argued that the gun had gone off unintentionally.
Jack Howard, who was 17 at the time, and a 15-year-old friend spotted a lake on Metz’s property from the road in Conifer on Sept. 10, 2024, prosecutor Chris Johnson said during his opening statement.
The two parked on the road in front of the private property and walked up the driveway to knock on the door of a barn that they heard music coming from, hoping to ask for permission to come back and take homecoming photos, Johnson said.
“This is the extent of their intrusion,” Johnson said. “They walk down the driveway, and they knock on a door. They picked the wrong house, and they picked the wrong people.
“They don’t walk all over the place, they don’t look everywhere, they knock on a door where they hear music coming from and, when no one answers, they leave the property,” Johnson continued.
Johnson and Brian Hassing are prosecuting the case for the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Jones and Christopher Decker of the are representing Metz.
Metz and his girlfriend, who co-own the property in the 23000 block of Pleasant Park Road, were running errands in town in two separate cars that day, Jones said. The girlfriend arrived back at the house first and spotted the car out front and the two boys walking around the house, he said.
She called Metz, who told her to call 911 as he returned home, and drove down the street to wait, Jones said. Dispatchers told her not to go onto the property and confront them, so she and Metz chose to block in the boys’ parked car with Metz’s truck while waiting for law enforcement to arrive, Jones said.
But, Johnson said, “he doesn’t just trap these boys there, he brings a gun.”
When Metz arrived home, the two boys had returned to their car, and the man decided to confront them. Sometime after he parked to block their car, his gun went off, striking Howard in the face and lodging itself behind the boy’s eye.
“Mr. Metz whips into that spot, cuts these boys off, gets out of the car, pulls his gun out and — as soon as Jack’s opening the door, trying to figure out whatap going on — Metz fires a single shot right into the windshield, right to where the driver-side head would be,” Johnson said. “That bullet passes through the windshield and goes directly into Jack’s nose.”
Howard was shot while sitting in his car and writing a note asking the homeowners to call him, hoping to arrange for permission to take pictures near the private lake, Johnson said. Somehow, he survives.
“This gun went off, it went off in his hand when he didn’t expect it, went off accidentally without his intent and without his command,” Jones said. “The first thing he said when it happened was, ‘Oh, (expletive), my gun went off.’”
The weapon fired as Metz stepped out of the truck, without the man pulling the trigger, Jones said.
Jones told the jury that gun safety experts will testify to the weapon’s history of false discharges and design problems, . He also alleged that the boys’ memories had been affected by the traumatic incident and that their stories had shifted over time, calling the reliability of their testimony into question.
Howard also filed a civil lawsuit against Metz for negligence, but those proceedings have been placed on hold until the criminal case is resolved, according to court records.
That lawsuit alleges Metz “negligently and unintentionally discharged the handgun,” shooting Howard. Metz “acted in a careless and imprudent manner and failed to take into account the safety of others,” the lawsuit stated.
The bullet fragmented, fracturing Howard’s nose and striking his eye, lip, tooth and arm, according to the civil lawsuit. Howard needed “significant medical treatment” with a combined price tag of more than $100,000, the lawsuit alleges. That includes emergency surgery, doctor’s visits and mental health treatment.
Metz was a member of Mountain View’s town council at the time of the shooting, but was recalled by voters the following year.
As of Wednesday, the criminal case’s jury trial was scheduled to run through Friday.
