Mentally Ill Teen Is Slain by Deputy

A mentally ill teenager was shot and killed by a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy after cutting himself with a knife and approaching a crowd of people at a Thousand Oaks swimming school, authorities said Wednesday.

James Hanlon McDonough Daniels, 19, was killed Tuesday evening following the incident at Daland Swim School in the 100 block of Wilbur Road. Daniels, whose body lay near the doorway of the school, was pronounced dead at 5:45 p.m. of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the county medical examiner.

“It’s regrettable when a deputy is in a position where they have to use” deadly force, Sheriff’s Cmdr. Keith Parks said. “In this case, it seems we tried some of the less serious tactics first and they were not successful.”

But Stephanie McDonough, Daniels’ 42-year-old mother, said the former Thousand Oaks High School student’s mental difficulties were well known to police, who often would stop him on the street and bring him home.

“He wouldn’t ever hurt anybody,” she said. “My main question is: Why do you have to kill a 19-year-old who is mentally ill and is only a threat to himself?”

Sheriff’s officials said they were contacted shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday after a witness reported seeing Daniels repeatedly cut his arm with a knife behind a restaurant at Moorpark Road and Brazil Street.

When deputies arrived minutes later, Daniels ran. Officers chased him to the swim school a few blocks away. During the pursuit, authorities said, deputies attempted to subdue Daniels with pepper spray and a nonlethal bean-bag gun to no avail.

Despite warnings by officers, the teenager -- still holding the knife -- approached a number of children and adults in the school’s parking lot when one unidentified deputy fired the fatal shots.

Though an investigation is underway, Parks said it appears the confrontation with Daniels was handled properly.

“The way he was hacking himself with the blade that he had, and the fact that he was at the swim school crowded with people, who’s to say what could have happened?” Parks said.

McDonough said her son was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression at age 5. For the past year and a half, she said, he had been struggling with a bipolar disorder and psychosis.

According to court records, Daniels spent several months in jail last year after pleading guilty to being under the influence of a controlled substance and public intoxication. In November, McDonough asked authorities to remove Daniels from her apartment and she sought a restraining order against him. He had recently been living with a friend.

Court records indicate Daniels was sentenced on Feb. 19 to 10 days in jail for disobeying the court order. “We had our bad times,” McDonough said. “But he was a very loving, kind and gentle person.”

The night before his death, McDonough said, she spoke with her son on the telephone. “He told me that he ... missed me,” McDonough said. “I said I missed him, too, and hoped he’d hurry up and get his act together so he could come home.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Eric Nishimoto said the officer responsible for the shooting was placed on paid administrative leave pending the investigation. He said details of the shooting will not be revealed until after the investigation is completed.

“We want to make sure our findings are absolutely accurate,” Nishimoto said.