Last Updated on April 9, 2024 by BVN
On March 9, family members of 15-year-old Ryan Gainer, diagnosed as autistic, called 9-1-1 reporting that he was actively assaulting family members and damaging property at the residence.
“He was upset that he couldn’t have his video games or play with his laptop,” the Gainer family attorney DeWitt Lacy explained, “He had begun acting out and broke a glass window near the front door.”
According to a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Advisory update, at approximately 4:54 p.m. on Saturday, March 9, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy Wyatt Eisenbrey responded to the residence.
In a body-cam video of the incident released by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department (SBCSD), you hear a male voice call out as Eisenbrey approaches the front door, “Come on in.”
In response, Deputy Eisenbrey yells, “Where is he at?”
The male voice shouts, “Look out, look out, he’s got a stick in his hand.”
Ryan Gainer bursts around the corner running full speed down the hallway and into the front yard directly toward the deputy.
The deputy yells out, “Hey, get back, get back, you’re going to get shot” as he draws his weapon. Shots ring out.
When Deputy Eisenbrey turns around Gainer is on the ground, with Deputy Brandon Clancy standing about 15 feet away.
Then the shrill screams of a distraught woman is heard. She is reacting to the sight of Ryan lying on the ground. Family members pour out of the home.
Deputy Eisenbrey yells, “Get back, get back, get back into the residence, right now.”
“My son! My son,” the distraught mother screams.
“We’re going to give him help, give him help,” Deputy Eisenbrey responds, as Gainer is writhing on the ground.
“We’re going to give him help, get back into the residence,” Deputy Eisenbrey instructs.
“Why did you do that? Why did you shoot my baby,” Ryan’s mother implores?
“We’re going to get him help. We’re going to get him help,” the deputies reassure.
A third deputy arrives and you can hear Deputy Eisenbrey calling for an ambulance.
Finally, the officers are seen rendering aid, one removing the stick from Gainer’s hands, as family members cry out, criticizing the deputies’ actions. “You killed my baby. You killed my baby. They murdered my baby,” Ryan’s mother screams.
Sirens can be heard as the ambulance, fire department, and other law enforcement vehicles approach the scene.
According to SBCSD’s Advisory Update, the stick Ryan held when shot was an approximately five-foot-long garden tool, with a sharp-bladed end, that Ryan raised as he ran toward the retreating deputy.
“A lethal force encounter occurred, Gainer was struck by gunfire and later died at a local hospital.”
Detectives with the sheriff department’s Specialized Investigations Division took over the investigation.
Gainer family attorney speaks out
In an interview with Black Voice News, the Gainer family’s attorney, DeWitt Lacy stated, “The standard for the use of deadly force is whether or not there’s imminent danger of death or great bodily injury.”
A press conference held by Lacy about the Gainer officer-involved shooting can be viewed here:
Lacy described the body-cam videos released by SBCSD as edited.
“According to their training, they’re supposed to de-escalate,” Lacy reasoned, instead, the officer had a confrontational approach, walking up to the house shouting out in a challenging manner and as soon as Gainer appeared, pulled out his gun. The officer escalated the situation with his aggressive approach.”
“When you’re dealing with somebody who has a mental health issue or impairment in the field,” Lacy explained, “officers are trained to plan with their partner to create time and distance between them and the suspect.”
“If they approach a circumstance like Ryan, with some type of threat of violence,” Lacy reasoned, “it could cause a violent or aggressive reaction, which is what happened, right?”
“If the officers kept their distance and softened their approach, then an officer retreating and firing at Gainer would be unnecessary, Lacy concluded.
Gainer picked up two random objects, a garden hoe and a skillet, Lacy observed, reasoning, that the officer should have been able to take these objects from a kid.
That the object(s) Gainer had could cause injury was not the standard in their basic training as law enforcement officers to justify the use of deadly force, Lacy explained.
“The law is that there has to be an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury,” Lacy confirmed, “That is the law. That’s not my viewpoint.” Lacy pointed to the United States Supreme Court decision in Graham v. Conner 490 US 386 (1989).
“It is the standard that law enforcement around the nation uses to determine whether or not a level of force is appropriate,” Lacy voiced referring to a jury instruction developed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The jury instructions added other considerations in determining excessive force including the size of the officer versus the suspect; how many officers compared to suspects; the type of crime alleged; whether there were mental health issues; or an imminent threat of death or great bodily injury; [and/or]were there less intrusive alternatives to the use of force.
Lacy recalled the family sharing that by the time law enforcement arrived, Ryan was apologetic to his father and family recognizing that he had gone too far. His parents were asking him to clean up the glass.
These deputies rushed in and made the situation worse, Lacy opined, and it wasn’t that Ryan was dangerous per se, but he had begun acting out.
In past instances, Lacy explained, law enforcement officers responding to the home had been very helpful. They de-escalated the situation, calmed Ryan down, and worked through it. This is the hero’s work to lend aid and help keep the peace, which is their job Lacy opined.
Lacy described Ryan Gainer’s family as tight-knit with a father and mother, the father and a daughter are military veterans, the mother is disabled and they attend church on Sunday.
California Department of Justice does not take up the case
In an interview with Black Voice News, the public information officer for the California Department of Justice (CADOJ), Alexandria Duquet, explained that under a new law effective July 2021, the CADOJ is required to investigate all incidents of an officer-involved shooting resulting in the death of an unarmed civilian.
As a result, CADOJ is privy to information on any officer-involved shooting.
The law defined an “unarmed civilian” as “anyone who is not in possession of a deadly weapon.”
Duquet explained the SBCSD characterized the garden tool as having a sharp edge and as a result, it is considered a deadly weapon, capable of inflicting death, and fell under that definition. Therefore, the CADOJ did not pick up the case, Duquet shared.
Duquet further explained there are times, however, when the CADOJ does investigate an officer-involved shooting where an involved civilian has a weapon. She gave the example of one case where a civilian was beating a woman with a bike lock.
As more evidence becomes available, Duquet explained, it could turn-out the garden tool Ryan held was not capable of inflicting death in our view. If that turns out to be the case, then the CADOJ would reconsider.
It’s on a case-by-case basis, Duquet observed.
For instance, Black Voice News found an officer-involved shooting on March 23, in the City of Hesperia involving suspect Keith Vinyard was classified as a lethal force encounter. The SBCSD claimed the suspect fled from deputies, and following a pursuit, armed himself with a large metal object, and assaulted the peace officer, resulting in a lethal force encounter.
In a March 26, news release, the CADOJ announced that following an investigation by the DOJ’s California Police Shooting Investigation Team, the officer-involved shooting of suspect Keith Vinyard was turned over to DOJ’s Special Prosecutions Section within the Criminal Law Division, for independent review.
If anyone has information about the Gainer case, SBCSD recommends contacting Detective Shawn Thurman or Sergeant Justin Giles at the Specialized Investigations Division at (909) 890-4904 or to remain anonymous contact We-Tip at 800-78CRIME or www.wetip.com.