Sheriffs in Southern California kill armed teen with mental health issues

Sheriffs in Southern California shot dead an armed teen with mental health issues. Citing authorities, a report by the news agency Associated Press said early Thursday (Apr 4) that the 17-year-old boy armed himself with a knife and locked himself inside a bathroom at a house. According to San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus, the teen was being transferred from a hospital to a mental health facility when he escaped on Tuesday (April 2).

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The boy was being treated after he cut himself. Sheriff Dicus said the teen is a foster youth who lived in Hesperia and later showed up at a home in Victorville where his sisters live in foster care. He added that someone at the house called the deputies to come to arrest the teen as he had caused trouble there before.

What happened?

Dicus said that the teen, armed with a knife, locked himself in a bathroom, and deputies tried to get him to come out for about a half hour. But when the boy threatened to harm himself, the deputies kicked down the bathroom door and tried to apprehend him, the sheriff added.

Visuals from the encounter showed the teen holding the knife and the deputies pepper-spraying him. The boy injured a deputy at the scene and was later shot. The 17-year-old was pronounced dead at a hospital, the Associated Press report added.

Second incident in San Bernardino in less than a month

This incident in San Bernardino comes just weeks after 15-year-old Ryan Gainer was fatally shot by the police while he was holding a garden tool outside his house in California. Gainer, an autistic African American boy, was killed on March 9 in Apple Valley.

In a statement, the sheriff's department said, "The deputy retreated and Gainer chased the deputy in an attempt to assault him with the bladed end of the tool. A lethal force encounter occurred, and Gainer was struck by gunfire. "

"Deputies quickly rendered medical aid to Gainer and continued until paramedics arrived. Gainer was transported by ambulance to a local hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries," the statement added.

(With inputs from agencies)