CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office identified a man Monday who was killed by what appears to be a stray bullet while camping with his family over the Fourth of July weekend.
Glenn Martin, 60, died about 6:30 p.m. Friday at Rainbow Falls Park near Woodland Park.
His family spoke to the media Monday, making an emotional plea for help finding the person who fired the bullet.
They are heartbroken. Not only did they lose their loved one — someone they say was so positive, so funny, someone who could fix anything, a MacGyver in his own right — but they still don’t know who killed him.
“We were going to have a great celebratory weekend,” says Glenn’s daughter Carlie, who did not want her last name publicized.
It was supposed to be a time to enjoy camping with family during a long holiday weekend.
“And It just happened. Just … ” she paused. “You never know when you’re going to go,” she said during a news conference at the sheriff’s office in Castle Rock.
But instead of celebrating, Martin’s family is mourning his sudden, unexpected death.
“He just went down. And said, ‘Ow.’ Chris said, ‘Are you OK?’ He said, ‘No.’ And that was it,” Carlie said.
Sheriff’s deputies say the machinist was hit by what appears to be a stray bullet as he sat around a campfire with his son-in-law, Chris, getting ready to roast marshmallows with his three grandchildren who were away with their mom at the time.
“I lost my best friend. He was a good guy. I looked up to, I looked up to him a lot,” said Chris, who did not want his last name used.
Target shooting is illegal at the park in the Pike National Forest. But shell casings still litter the trails.
“Part of owning gun is that responsibility of being aware of your target and beyond. This is a circumstance because of decisions that were made, an individual lost their life,” Douglas County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Ron Hanavan said.
But who took that life is unknown and Martin’s family needs help finding who pulled the trigger.
“That’s all we can ask for is some type of closure, some type of an answer. … You don’t want to live with that on your conscience for the rest of your life either,” said Martin’s daughter Janelle.
Their focus now is finding who took a loving dad who still had so much more love and support to give.
“I used to tell people, ‘My daddy walks on water.’ He was up there with God. My dad would say I can only walk on water when it’s frozen,” Carlie said.
She can’t imagine her family’s life without his bigger-than-life presence.
“He was surrounded by the ones he loved. He was very happy. Then, the whole world cracked,” she said.
She hopes whoever killed him “man’s up” and takes responsibility for being careless and irresponsible.
The family said when they arrived at their secluded campsite, they heard gunshots. They told the rangers, who told them someone was shooting in the opposite direction.
The shooting stopped for a couple of hours, so they assumed it had been taken care of — until that fatal bullet.
The person who fired the gun will likely face criminal charges because gun use in that area is prohibited.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867.