Victorville teen killed by San Bernardino deputy gunfire

A teen, suffering from mental health issues, was killed in a shooting involving deputies with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities responded to a call regarding an unwanted subject incident at a home on the 17100 block of Forest Hills Drive, off Hesperia Road, in Victorville just after 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

A male juvenile, believed to be 17-years-old, was at his sister's home and allegedly refused to leave, authorities said.

He apparently barricaded himself in the bathroom and threatened to cut himself. Deputies then went inside the bathroom. According to the sheriff's department, the teen was pepper-sprayed, but they still couldn't subdue him. He was armed with a knife and slashed one of the deputies. After that, a deputy opened fire, shooting and killing the teen. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

"Witnessing that event and still as you hear them try to take control of that knife, is the issue and we still have to interview the deputy as to why he fired. The question of course is the constitutional standard of whether it was reasonable," Sheriff Shannon Dicus.

Victorville teen killed in deputy involved shooting (photo courtesy San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department).

The sheriff's department said they called for a supervisor to de-escalate the situation. 

The teen, who has not been publicly identified, was in and out of mental health facilities and his condition was known to officers. Just three days before, deputies took the teen to the hospital after he cut himself with a knife. They were attempting to transport him to a mental health care facility when he escaped and went to his sister's house. 

The teen and his sisters are all foster care children.

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This is the second time this month a San Bernardino County deputy shot and killed a teen with mental health issues. 

"We have a mental health crisis on our hands, not just in this county but in the entire state," Dicus added.