A Canadian community is in uproar after police officers shot and killed a 15-year-old autistic boy who had the mental capacity of a 10 year old.
Chase de Balinhard decided to go for a walk around his neighborhood in Surrey, British Columbia on February 9 after his parents went out to watch the Super Bowl, CTV News reports.
By around 2.40pm, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police received a call that there was a person with a weapon at a school.
What happened next was caught on a neighbor’s surveillance camera.
It showed de Balinhard walking with a limp past a patrol vehicle with what his parents say was a pellet gun pointed to his head.
‘He was walking away very slowly not running, very slowly and not showing any aggression towards the officers,’ his father, Rick, described.
Heavily-armed police officers could then be heard trying to negotiate with the teen.
One officer even ordered Chase to drop the weapon and warned, ‘You don’t want to do this.’
Chase de Balinhard, 15, was shot and killed by police in his hometown of Surrey, British Columbia on February 9
At that point, the footage shows Chase raising his arm and pointing the object in his hand toward the officers at the scene.
He then ducks behind a bush, out of the camera’s view, as the cops take cover behind a patrol vehicle, according to CBC.
Two shots then rang out as officers rushed toward him.
But Chase’s parents say he was not suicidal, and they believe he was just scared, confused and likely disoriented.
‘Being autistic, he wasn’t hearing anything they’re saying,’ Rick explained. ‘He was walking away from the noise with no idea of the escalation of the situation, other than “Why are these people following me in cop cars yelling at me?”
Rick and his wife, Crystal, have said they think their son was just trying to record a funny video on his phone at the time – and he did not have the mental capacity to understand how his behavior might alarm onlookers.
The teen had decided to take a walk around his neighborhood and was apparently carrying a pellet gun
His distraught parents are now raising questions about the training the Royal Canadian Mounted Police receive to deal with individuals on the autism spectrum
At a funeral over the weekend, Christine Horton, Chase’s Building Academic, Social and Employment Skills program teacher, noted that Chase suffered from XXY Syndrome.
As a result, he had muscle weakness, coordination problems, hand tremors, delayed speech, explosive temper, defiant behavior and a delayed development of his social, language and learning skills, CTV News reports.
Chase only read at a second grade level and struggled to participate in class.
The teen also suffered from autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder and bicuspid aortic valve – a heart disease.
‘He had trouble processing more than one or two commands at a time and needed people to speak, pause, wait and then repeat if necessary,’ Horton said as she delivered a eulogy for the boy.
‘He was triggered by yelling demands that he perceived to be rude and actions that appeared to be aggressive.’
But she said Chase would do anything for the people he loved, and just wanted to fit in.
‘Chase was a vibrant, outgoing boy that had the heart of a philanthropist, with the budget of a student,’ Horton said, noting that as a child he would often host a fundraiser to raise money for BC Children’s hospital and had hoped to help find a cure for cancer.
‘He had big dreams and high hopes of making a difference in the world,’ she said, noting that he wanted to one day run his own toy or antique store.
They believe Chase was trying to film a funny video on his phone at the time of the shooting
On the day of the fatal shooting, Chase’s parents left him to rest at home as they went to celebrate the Super Bowl. They noted that he had recently recovered from a lower body surgery.
‘When we left him, he was a happy 15 year old boy,’ Crystal lamented. ‘Mom and dad were going out and he was going to have the couch to himself.’
She had just ordered food from a local pub when she received a text message from a friend saying, ‘Do you know what’s going on at the school? I heard there were shots fired.’
Crystal then called her son, concerned he may have seen something as the incident did not occur far from his normal walking route, but he didn’t answer.
‘I just had, just a funny feeling, so I used my Find Your iPhone and it kept bringing me to the address that was on the community page [of] where the shooting was,’ she recounted.
‘So I immediately drove there and the street was blocked off.’
Crystal then said she told an officer at the scene that her son’s phone pinged in the area, and was told to wait in her car.
A member of the Independent Investigations Office, British Columbia’s police watchdog, then informed her that her son had been shot and killed by an officer.
A memorial was set up in town for the teenager as the community reeled from the shooting
Chase was described as someone who would do anything for the people he loved, and who just wanted to fit in
The agency has said it is going to investigate the shooting in as timely a manner as possible to determine whether the cops’ actions were ‘necessary, reasonable and proportionate in the circumstance.’
In the meantime, though, the de Balinhards are raising questions about the training the Royal Canadian Mounted Police receive to deal with individuals on the autism spectrum.
‘Why did they have to shoot to kill?’ Crystal asked. ‘They were feet away. Why didn’t they Taser him? I don’t know. I don’t understand.’
It seems they have since made some progress as Elenore Sturko, the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Surrey-Cloverdale, met with Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Gary Begg.
She called the meeting productive and noted that Begg and his staff have said a review of best practices in communication with law enforcement and the training they receive to deal with neurodiverse people has been ongoing since 2023.
‘It’s just so awful and we want to find ways to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again,’ Sturko said.
‘You know, we don’t want to jump to conclusions in any way, but certainly there’s no person that I’ve spoken to at this point that doesn’t want to see if we can find a way to ensure something like this wouldn’t happen.’
