Southern California sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a mentally ill 17-year-old boy after arming himself with a knife and locking him in the bathroom of his home, authorities said Wednesday.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said the boy was being transferred to a mental health facility from a hospital where he was being treated for a self-inflicted cut when he escaped on Tuesday.
Dicas said the boy was a foster youth living in Hesperia and later showed up at the sisters’ home in Victorville, where they live in a foster care facility. According to Dikas, someone in the house called the police to arrest him because he had been causing trouble at the house before.
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The boy, who was carrying the knife, locked himself in the bathroom and deputies worked for about 30 minutes to get him to come out, the sheriff’s office said. But when the boy threatened to harm himself, officers kicked in the door and tried to arrest him, Dicas said.
San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus speaks during a press conference in Hesperia on September 27, 2022. (Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Getty Images)
Video and still images of the encounter showed the boy holding a knife, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Deputies sprayed him with pepper spray, and one of them had his hand cut with a knife, the paper said.
The boy was pushed back into the bathtub, where he was shot, Dicas said. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
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The death comes less than a month after San Bernardino deputies shot and killed 15-year-old Ryan Gainer. The sheriff’s office says the autistic boy threatened his family at a Victorville home and chased responding deputies with a garden hoe.
Dikas said Wednesday that deputies were assaulted in both incidents. He said parents need increased access to mental health services for troubled children so that law enforcement is not the only option in a crisis.
“My record as sheriff over the last several years has been to advocate for building a better mental health system,” Dicus said. “While the correctional environment and our public environment have been challenged time and time again, the only mental health resource in our community is law enforcement, and it is the only resource available to us 24/7. resources.”
