Ryan Gainer: SBSD says deputies followed protocol in fatal shooting of boy with autism
APPLE VALLEY, Calif. - The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department is defending the actions of two deputies who shot and killed an autistic 15-year-old in Apple Valley over the weekend, saying the deputies "followed through with what their training protocols are."
Ryan Gainer was killed on Saturday, March 9, after deputies were called out to his Apple Valley home. According to deputies, a 911 caller reported that someone in the home was attacking his family members and causing damage to the home. When deputies got to the scene, they encountered Gainer, armed with what deputies said was a garden hoe.
The department released shortened clips of the interaction over the weekend, showing Gainer charging at one deputy as he approached the home. During a press conference Wednesday, the department released longer clips.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: California deputies kill 15-year-old armed with garden tool in Apple Valley
Ultimately, deputies shot at Gainer three times that night. According to the preliminary investigation, two deputies fired at Gainer. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Teen with autism shot, killed by deputies
PREVIOUS: A teenager with autism was shot and killed by deputies in Apple Valley. In the video, the 15-year-old boy, who was armed with a garden tool, charged toward the deputies before getting shot. The family's lawyer claims the teen was in the middle of an episode when the incident broke out.
During that Wednesday press conference, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus defended the actions of the two deputies.
"In this circumstance, whether we knew, didn't know, had the best resources available to us, this is a reactionary time," Dicus said.
"And if we're looking at this in the scope of being a human being and what they're trained for, the deputies followed through with what their training protocols are."
Dewitt Lacey, an attorney for the Gainer family, however, said that Saturday was not the first time that deputies had been called out to the home: that they were aware of Ryan Gainer's situation, that the department had sent mental health experts to the home in the past, and that they should have again on that night.
"There have been other occasions where the family had reached out to the sheriff's department, and the sheriff's department followed their training, which is, they deescalated incidents where they had made encounters or contact with Ryan," Lacey said.
The SBSD is still investigating the shooting, and because this was a deputy-involved shooting, the California Department of Justice is performing its own independent investigation as well.