The bodycam footage of the events leading to the shooting and death of Ryan Gainer, a 15-year-old teen, who came charging at a cop responding to an emergency call.
The incident happened in southern California when the sheriff’s deputy was responding to a 911 call on Saturday.
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, the deceased boy was attacking his family at their home in Apple Valley, east of Los Angeles.
According to official reports, Gainer was holding a 5ft gardening tool and charging at the deputy who arrived at the scene when the officer shot him. The boy was later taken to a hospital where he died.
A lawyer for the family held that Gainer was a cross-country runner who had autism and that the shooting was not warranted.
According to the 911 recorded call and partial body-camera footage released by the sheriff’s department, a woman reported that her brother was attacking one of their sisters and trying to break a window and door. The audio captured yelling in the background, and the woman told the dispatcher: “They gotta take him in.”
At a point during the call, she said: “He’s talking to my dad right now. He said he’s going to run away and then he came back to the house.” She also said he had a piece of glass.
The department released two short body-camera clips, but both clips ended before the shooting occurred. Footage from one deputy showed him arriving at the home, with the front door open. A man’s voice could be heard saying: “He’s got a stick in his hand.” Gainer then appeared and started running toward the deputy, who pointed his gun toward the boy and shouted: “Get back, get back, or you’re going to get shot.”
The deputy appeared to be retreating, then running away from the boy, pointing his gun at him. The second clip captured that same moment from another deputy who was at a distance.
According to DeWitt Lacy, a civil rights lawyer representing the family, the 15-year-old autistic kid who was having an episode…We need to see the video and the moment of the shooting … but it doesn’t seem like anyone was in imminent danger of death or great bodily injury.”
“We understand the gamesmanship that is involved when municipalities err and kill people unnecessarily”, Lacy said, on why the police had refused to release the footage of the final moments of the shooting and what ensured afterward.
According to the family, the officers delayed helping Gainer after he was shot. “They have to give medical aid to this 15-year-old they just shot and it certainly seems they failed to do that”, Lacy said. The police were also alleged to have forced the family out of the home and ransacked the house for any justification for shooting and killing Ryan”.
Shannon Dicus, the elected San Bernardino sheriff in a statement okayed the shooting.
“Our social safety net for those experiencing mental illness needs to be strengthened”, he said in a statement. Our deputies handle seemingly insurmountable calls daily. Most of these calls do not end in violence. However, this one ended in tragedy for Ryan, his family, and for the deputies who responded.
“Rapidly evolving, violent encounters are some of the most difficult, requiring split-second decisions,” Dicus continued. “While these decisions are lawful, they are awful in terms of our humanity. I feel for both Ryan’s family and my deputies who will struggle with this for their entire lives.”
