Family of 15-year-old with autism fatally shot by deputies files claim against San Bernardino County

Key Facts

The family of Ryan Gainer, a 15-year-old boy with autism who was shot and killed by San Bernardino County sheriff‘s deputies outside his Apple Valley home this month, has filed a wrongful death claim against the county, attorneys announced during a news conference on Thursday.
Family, activists and observers displayed a five-foot-long hula hoe, a type of gardening tool that has a metal D-shaped fixture on the end for digging into dirt, that Gainer held when he was shot.
A family member called 911 for help, asking dispatch to send deputies to “take him in” because he was breaking glass and had hit his sister, according to a portion of the call released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
It is not clear how much information deputies had when they arrived at the home, but Ryan had been taken to a mental health facility several times during law enforcement’s previous visits to the home, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said during a news conference last week.