Armed Teen with Mental Health Issues Shot Dead by Sheriffs in Southern California
A 17-year-old boy armed himself with a knife and locked himself inside a bathroom at a house, leading to a tragic incident involving law enforcement in Southern California.
Background
- The teen, who had mental health issues, was being transferred from a hospital to a mental health facility when he escaped on Tuesday.
- He was a foster youth residing in Hesperia and later appeared at a home in Victorville where his sisters live in foster care.
- Authorities were called to the house to arrest the teen due to previous disturbances caused by him.
Incident Details
Sheriff Shannon Dicus mentioned that the teen, armed with a knife, barricaded himself in the bathroom, prompting deputies to intervene.
Despite attempts to persuade the teen to surrender peacefully, he threatened self-harm, leading to a forceful entry by the deputies.
During the confrontation, the teen injured a deputy and was subsequently shot. He was pronounced dead at a hospital following the altercation.
Previous Incident
This event comes shortly after another tragic incident in San Bernardino involving the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Ryan Gainer, who was holding a garden tool outside his house in California.
Gainer, an autistic African American boy, was fatally shot by the police on March 9 in Apple Valley in a separate but similarly distressing encounter.
The sheriff’s department reported that Gainer attempted to assault a deputy with the tool, leading to the use of lethal force, resulting in his tragic death.
