Deputy kills 15-year-old wielding a ‘bladed’ garden tool, officials say
A 15-year-old Apple Valley youth wielding a garden tool was shot and killed Saturday by a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy, according to a statement from the department.
The statement said the boy, Ryan Gainer, “chased the deputy in an attempt to assault him with the bladed end” of a 5-foot-long garden tool.
The officer had confronted Gainer after being summoned by a 911 call on Saturday afternoon to a house in the 13400 block of Iroquois Road. The teen allegedly was assaulting family members.
After being shot, “Gainer was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries,” according to a Sheriff’s Department statement released Sunday.
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Police body camera footage released to Victor Valley News Group shows a deputy approaching the open door of the family home when a youth charges out of the house, with a long object raised, toward the officer.
“Get back, get back or you’re going to get shot!” the deputy shouts as he moves quickly backward. The footage switches to that of a second officer that shows the officer retreating, one arm raised with his gun pointed at Gainer.
The deputy who fired on the youth was not named.
The agency said the incident had been turned over to its specialized investigations unit.
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