Autistic teen shot and killed by B.C. police laid to rest amid best-practices review

Hundreds gathered in a Surrey church to pay their respects to De Balinhard, a 15-year-old with autism who was shot and killed by police Feb. 9.

Hundreds of people packed a Surrey, B.C., church over the weekend to pay their respects to Chase de Balinhard.

The 15-year-old was shot and killed by police Feb. 9, triggering an investigation by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C.

The celebration of life was so well attended, many mourners had to watch the service from a television in the church’s lobby.

The ceremony began with a group of Chase’s friends, donning Hawaiian shirts, escorting in his ashes.

They were trailed by his parents, grandparents, and the rest of his family.

Their heartbreak was audible, as sobs from his loved ones could be heard throughout the room.

Chase was on the autism spectrum and functioned more like a 10-year-old, according to his parents.

Autism awareness ribbons, featuring puzzle pieces in bright colours were handed out at the door for attendees to wear in his honour. They could also be seen hanging from trees and homes on the teenager’s street as a show of solidarity from neighbours.

Many in the audience had worked with Chase during his elementary and high school years, as well as privately.

Overcoming challenges

Christine Horton, his Building Academic, Social and Employment Skills (BASES) program teacher, delivered his eulogy.

“Chase was a vibrant, outgoing boy that had the heart of a philanthropist with the budget of a student. He had big dreams and high hopes of making a difference in the world,” said Horton.

Horton worked with Chase for three years and described him as someone who would do anything for the people he loved.

She said he loved Terry Fox, and supported a number of fundraising efforts to find a cure for cancer. Horton described the teen as “complex” and said he often suffered physically.

“Showing up, being happy, staying in school and participating in any way was a huge win for him, and something to celebrate,” said Horton.

She said Chase had XYY Syndrome, which came with a number of symptoms such as muscle weakness, coordination problems, hand tremors, delayed speech, explosive temper, defiant behaviour, delayed development of his social, language and learning skills.

Horton said he read at a Grade 2 level and struggled to participate in academic classes.

He also had autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), a heart disease.

Despite having so many challenges, he was described as perseverant.

“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. He was triggered by yelling demands that he perceived to be rude and actions that appeared to be aggressive,” said Horton.

Chase was a Grade 10 student at Clayton Heights Secondary School.

Horton said he wanted to be seen by his peers as a typical kid who was accepted, needed, and loved.

“Chase would often come back to the feeling that he was invisible at school. His perception was that he was the last one to be picked as a partner on a team or to sit beside in class,” said Horton.

She said meeting the expectations of school was hard for him as he needed assistance with everything.

Despite that, he had dreams of one day running his own toy or antique store.

“He loved the idea of organizing old treasures and making connections with other collectors. He was a beautiful, generous soul. He will be greatly missed and never forgotten,” said Horton.

Chase’s speech pathologist Aman Dhaliwal said Chase was considerate, vulnerable, and funny.

“Chase loved his mom’s eyes. He loved his dad’s voice. He loved his granny’s everything. He loved his cat Ava but he fed the neighbouring cat Mango more,” said Dhaliwal.

She said speaking at his memorial was one of the saddest moments of her life.

“Chase wanted to change the world. Knowing him, loving him, and now losing him has forever changed my world,” she said, her voice wavering.

Morgan Plato met Chase in the first grade.

“I have a lot to thank Chase for, like teaching me random things or random topics, but the things I want to thank him most for is for being such a good friend, for always thinking of me when he went to antique stores, for being there for me and listening when I talked,” said the teen.

Chase’s parents Crystal and Rick said they were blessed to have him as a son.

“Chase faced too many obstacles in his life. Nothing came easy, yet he never let them define him. His ability to persevere in the face of challenges was inspiring,” said his mother.

She described how he had a great sense of humour and loved pranking them.

“Chase was funny and kind. He was perfectly imperfect, and he embraced that truth with a fearless heart,” said his mother.

He loved everything old and vintage and enjoyed listening to many different kinds of music.

“If our day started out less than perfect, usually about him not wanting to go to school, we would often dance it out in the kitchen. After our dance, we would hug it out, and he would remind me how short I was and that he loved me,” said his mother.

A video slideshow shared a number of photos of the teen dressed in costumes and videos of him telling his family that he loved them.

The memorial concluded with a playing of the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun,” one of Chase’s favourite songs.

Police watchdog investigating

According to the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., the incident began at about 2:40 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 9.

The IIO says information provided by the RCMP states that they responded to a report of a person with a weapon at a school in the 7000 block of 188 Street.

“There was reportedly an interaction between the person and police near the intersection of 70 Avenue and 185 Street during which shots were fired by police. The person sustained a gunshot-related injury and was pronounced deceased at the scene,” wrote the IIO in a news release.

It says it was notified shortly after and began its investigation.

“Initial investigative steps will seek to determine if police actions were necessary, reasonable, and proportionate in the circumstances,” wrote the agency.

The IIO would not confirm what the weapon was.

“Identifying a particular type of weapon may be seen by some to suggest a conclusion to the issue of whether the police action was justified or not. To avoid that perception, important details like the weapon type are held back until a full and complete investigation has been conducted,” wrote the office.

However, Chase’s parents told CTV News in an interview days after their son’s death that he was carrying an unloaded pellet gun.

“The pellet gun was up in my office. It was locked. I unfortunately had unlocked that door to get something else out. It is locked all the time, and it’s the one time it wasn’t and (Chase) has never left the house with it,” said his father Rick.

Surveillance video released by a neighbour caught the shooting on camera.

It shows Chase walking with a limp past a police car with what his parents say was the pellet gun pointed to his head.

“He was walking away very slowly, not running, very slowly, and not showing any aggression towards the officers,” said Rick.

Despite raising the object in his hand to his head, his parents say he was not suicidal and they believe he was scared, confused, and likely disoriented.

“Being autistic, he wasn’t hearing anything they’re saying. 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?’” said Rick.

The surveillance video shows heavily armed officers trying to negotiate with the teen.

One can be heard ordering him to drop the weapon and saying “You don’t want to do this.”

Chase is then seen raising his arm and pointing the object in his hand toward police. Two shots ring out and officers rush toward him.

His mother believes was out for a walk at the time and was likely role playing and making silly videos, as he often did.

She says he was not capable of understanding how that might frighten onlookers.

His parents are now raising questions about the use of force and the training the officers involved had in responding to calls involving people on the autism spectrum.

“Why did they have to shoot to kill? He walked by the police cars, and it almost looks like he’s like, just nonchalant. They were feet away. Why didn’t they Taser him? I don’t know. I don’t understand,” said his mother Crystal.

Change already in the works

Elenore Sturko, the MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale where the incident happened, says she’s received emails from concerned parents with kids with autism following Chase’s death.

She has unique insight into the situation, as she too is a parent of a child on the spectrum as well as a former RCMP officer.

“I think it’s important for us to wait until the IIO investigation is done. I don’t want to imply in any way at this point in time that a difference in training may have impacted the outcome of this investigation,” Sturko told CTV News.

Sturko asked for a meeting with Public Safety Minister and Solicitor General Garry Begg in the week that followed the tragedy.

She says she wanted to work together to review what was being done in terms of best practices in these types of scenarios.

Sturko said the meeting was productive and that Begg and his staff said a review of best practices in communication with law enforcement and the training that they receive with respect to dealing with people who are neurodiverse 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. 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,” said Sturko.

CTV News reached out to Begg’s office for an interview and was instead provided a written statement.

“Every loss of life involving law enforcement is a deeply tragic situation, and my heartful condolences goes out to the family and friends of Chase De Balinhard,” wrote Begg.

“When such tragedies occur, the province takes them very seriously. It’s essential that transparent reviews are conducted to fully understand the circumstances that led to this outcome,” wrote the minister.

“Given that this matter is still under investigation, I will refrain from making any further comments at this time,” he wrote.

The ministry says B.C. provincial standards require all front-line police officers and supervisors in B.C. to take mandatory training on crisis intervention and de-escalation (CID) and refresh their skills every three years.

It says the training equips front-line officers and supervisors with skills to recognize crises, communicate effectively, and minimize the use of force.

The training was developed following the Braidwood Commission inquiry and was integrated into police services’ policies and procedures.

The ministry confirmed that a project initiated over a year ago is underway to refresh the required CID training.

“This is expected to include new Autism-Spectrum Disorder (ASD)-specific content as well as broader neurodivergence-related considerations (among other changes), which will be added to the training for all police agencies later this year,” wrote the ministry.

It hopes that ASD-related content will help officers recognize behaviours like sensory sensitivities, repetitive movements, and communication challenges and apply appropriate responses.

Sturko says she and Begg agreed that a provincial standard for that kind of training is needed.

She said she felt positive after their meeting and believes there is a “strong commitment” from the B.C. government.

“There’s never a wrong time to improve and strengthen a curriculum and to improve and strengthen our understanding about communicating with people with challenges in communicating,” said Sturko.

She cautions that improved education will not stop these kinds of tragedies from occurring all together though.

“The best training in the world does not guarantee that an outcome will go a certain way. You know, there are still certain other factors, like use of force factors and risk to public safety, factors that will always have to be under the consideration of police when they respond to a call,” said Sturko.

Sturko says she is committed to ensuring that the NDP government follows through on its commitments.

“We are paying attention, and this is something that’s top of mind right now to make sure that this incident doesn’t slip through the cracks. If it does become clear that there was some improvements that could be made, then we make those improvements,” she told CTV News.

Not an isolated incident

After watching the surveillance video of the shooting, Chase’s parents say it was obvious to them that he was experiencing sensory overload and could not make rational decisions.

They believe his fear of the officers and the situation may have caused him to become non-verbal and unable to comply with directions.

Jamila Aleaf is clinic manager at Monarch House, a centre that helps kids with autism across Canada.

Aleaf works with teens Chase’s age and says meltdowns in public settings are common.

“It happens all the time. This is not something that’s isolated. In a sense, it’s just this is the one that led to the worst-case scenario,” said Aleaf.

She says people on the spectrum often give physical and social cues when they are in distress.

“You see the repetitive characteristics. You’ll see maybe the pacing. You’ll see the hand flapping. You’ll see the stimming behaviors,” said Aleaf.

She says it’s important for people to be aware of those types of behaviours.

“If this person’s having a moment, if they’re having a hard time, that we shouldn’t be approaching them with more aggression, because that’s only going to make things worse. We should be de-escalating,” said Aleaf.

Even if they are still able to communicate verbally, they may be nonsensical.

“They repeat the same thing over and over again. And that’s also a way that you can recognize that their emotions are getting heightened,” explained Aleaf.

She hopes Chase’s death will not be in vain.

“I really do hope that this can help us kind of wake up a little bit and understand that this is serious and this is impactful, and we should change and grow and learn from it, versus repeating it or thinking, is it just a random case that has happened, which is not the case,” said Aleaf.