Fatal shooting of autistic teen raises concerns about police response to people with mental health issues

Ryan Gainer, a teen with autism, was a cross-country runner who worked out his frustrations with six-mile runs and dreamed of becoming an engineer. On Saturday afternoon, the 15-year-old became upset that his parents had demanded he complete his household chores before he would be allowed to play video games or listen to music on his computer, according to DeWitt Lacy, a civil rights attorney representing Ryan's family. Any teen would be upset by that," Lacy said. Some people with autism experience more heightened emotions and on that day Ryan responded by breaking glass on the front door, Lacy said. A family member called 911 for help, asking dispatch to send deputies to "take him in" because he was breaking glass and hitting his sister, according to a portion of the call released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. But instead a responding deputy fatally shot the teen, saying he had threatened the deputy with a garden tool. A 15-year-old Apple Valley youth was shot and killed by a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy during an altercation with family members. Ryan's death has heightened concerns from activists about law enforcement's use of force against people suffering from mental health issues and the lack of supportive services available for families when they call police for help. The death was not the first. The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department was sued last year after deputies shot and killed Tony Garza while he was in the middle of a mental health crisis. In 2019, an off-duty LAPD officer fatally shot 32-year-old Kenneth French, who had a cognitive disability, during an altercation inside a Costco in Corona. Zoe Gross works as the advocacy director at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network, a nonprofit organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. Gross said it's critical that law enforcement release a fuller picture of what happened during their encounter with Ryan to better understand what could have been done differently. "The autistic community has seen far too many cases of law enforcement profiling, targeting, and using excessive, sometimes deadly force on Black autistic people," Gross said. "Because of the prevalence of police violence and the amount of unmet need in our communities, we must fund and implement alternatives to policing." Gross said these alternatives could include dispatching other types of first responders for people in crisis, such as specially trained EMTs, as well as funding community services that could provide support before people resort to calling authorities. Lacy, the Gainer family's attorney, said the sheriff's department had experience with Ryan and had responded to the family's home on previous occasions. "Once they typed up the address, it should have clearly shown this was somebody that had some mental health issues at times," Lacy said. "They should have used deescalating techniques.