Brent Metz, a former Mountain View councilman convicted of shooting a teenager in the face, will serve four years of probation, three months of work release and 120 hours of community service under a sentence that has drawn publ ic criticism.That criticism was immediate on social media after Metz was sentenced Tuesday in a Jefferson County courtroom. A Denver7 viewer named Jarrod commented on Facebook: "4 years probation for literally shooting a 17 year old kid in the face!...COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!"Metz was found guilty in June of third-degree assault a misdemeanor and illegal discharge of a firearm, a felony.Jefferson County Judge Russell Klein said in court that Metz's nonexistent criminal history meant prison time was not appropriate. Klein also addressed the question of intent."One of the things that startled me with the video was how quickly the gun goes off after the car pulls in, door opens, gun goes off. It is actually a much faster series of events than I would have guessed when I first started looking at this file a couple of years ago that provides support for the idea Mr. Metz stepped out of the truck and lost his footing," Klein said.Metz was originally charged with four felonies stemming from the 2024 shooting of 17-year-old Jack Howard, who, along with his 15-year-old friend, Luke Brookhouser, had stopped at Metz's Connifer home to ask whether they could take homecoming photos on the property.After no one answered the door, the teens returned to their car and began writing a note when Metz arrived home, and a gunshot was fired. Metz maintained the shooting was accidental.Metro State University Criminal Justice Professor Denise Mowder said the judge could have given Metz one to three years in prison for the felony charge of illegal discharge of a firearm, but that criminal history and intent play a large role in a judge's discretion."I understand what they're saying, because I thought of that too when I heard this yesterday, but then I realized he uses discretion based on these criteria," Mowder said. "But I wasn't in the courtroom. I mean, if we're not in the courtroom hearing all the evidence, you don't really know what the judge heard, what the jury heard, and obviously they heard things to make them feel as if he didn't intend this."Mowder said a defendant's criminal history plays a large part in a judge's discretion."Tremendous amount, because we can anticipate what someone is going to do by what they have already done. He had no criminal history, so that was probably the thing that gave the judge the biggest discretion in the sentencing," Mowder said.Klein said he hoped the sentence would provide the victims a step forward in healing. However, Metz's attorneys have filed a motion for a new trial, which could mean it is years before the victims can put this case behind them.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less