A sheriff’s deputy in southern California shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who was holding a gardening tool. The San Bernardino county sheriff’s department was responding to a 911 call on Saturday from a family reporting that Ryan Gainer was attacking his family at their home in Apple Valley, east of Los Angeles. The department said he was holding a 5-foot gardening tool and approaching the first deputy who arrived at the scene when the deputy shot him. Gainer was later taken to a hospital where he died, the Guardian reports. A lawyer for the family said Gainer was a cross-country runner who had autism and said the fatal shooting did not appear to be warranted.
On the call, 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.” During the five-minute call, the woman said the other relatives were trying to keep their distance from him. At one point, 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 15-second body-camera clips, but both clips end before the shooting. Footage from one deputy showed him arriving at the home, where the front door was open. A man inside could be heard saying: “He’s got a stick in his hand.” Gainer then appeared and started quickly walking out of the home toward the deputy, who pointed his gun toward the boy and shouted: “Get back, get back, or you’re going to get shot.”