The Region : Deputy Kills Armed 15-Year-Old Suspect

A 15-year-old boy who allegedly threatened several people with a rifle and started a small fire next to a home at Big Bear Lake was shot to death by a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy. The shooting occurred when Johnny Bangert of Big Bear was ordered to “freeze” and instead whirled toward the deputy with a can of flammable liquid in his hand, Sheriff Floyd Tidwell said. The deputy, believing the can was a weapon, fired one round from his shotgun, hitting the boy in the chest, Tidwell said. The boy, who was wearing his rifle slung over his shoulder, died at the scene near a market on Big Bear Boulevard. Bangert lived just a few houses away from the shooting. Tidwell declined to identify the deputy to protect him from possible retaliation.