Weeping Mountie testifies he was ‘repulsed’ shooting at teen boy, but feared for his life

As he crouched behind a police cruiser, a seasoned RCMP officer said he was “repulsed” by the thought of shooting an autistic teenage boy but feared the troubled youth might fire at him first.

“I was worried that he was going to shoot me, I was worried that I wasn’t going to be able to pull the trigger,” a weeping Staff Sgt. Christopher De Hart said. “(When) you train for these type of things, you envision the bogeyman. You don’t think it’s a 15-year-old kid.”

When Chase de Balinhard didn’t answer officers’ pleas to drop his weapon, De Hart did pull the trigger, as did a second officer. The teen, who was carrying a pellet gun that officers said looked like a real firearm, was shot and killed on Feb. 9, 2025, on a Surrey street.

At a coroner’s inquest into Chase’s death, officers testified Friday that they knew Chase was autistic but at the time hadn’t received specific training on how to de-escalate situations with neurodivergent people.

Even though De Hart was a use-of-force instructor, and the second Mountie was part of a RCMP crisis response team, the jury heard officers felt they had no other available tools to protect the public from an “active-shooter” threat beyond firing their guns.

This week’s testimony highlighted the raw emotions felt by so many people touched by this tragedy.

It will be up to the five-person jury to make recommendations for how to avoid this type of fatality, but they will not assign blame for Chase’s death.

De Hart was asked whether it would have been helpful if more information about Chase’s autism could have been conveyed to officers at the scene, such as possible “safety words” that are known to calm him.

“It’s a great idea,” he answered.

The 20-year RCMP veteran teaches rapid deployment skills, and how to use handcuffs, batons and Tasers. He isn’t, though, a firearms instructor.

The RCMP tried to apprehend Chase for more than 20 minutes, according to a report into the incident, but the teen didn’t respond verbally to the officers or follow their instructions, the jury was told.

While crouching behind a cruiser at 185th Street and 70th Avenue, De Hart said he turned to a dog-handler who was part of the tactical team, hoping that officer would have some “miracle answer” of how to disarm the teen without hurting him.

There was none.

“So the firearm, in my mind, was the absolute only option that I could think of and believe me when I tell you that I tried to think of something,” said De Hart, often stopping to wipe tears from his eyes.

De Hart called for an ambulance and when he saw his colleagues performing first aid on Chase, he collapsed: “I couldn’t breathe, and I felt sick.”

The jury was shown a doorbell video of Chase walking across a snowy lawn and, when police called out to him, he turned and extended his arm, aiming his weapon at the officers. Within seconds, the teen disappeared from view behind a tree when at least one shot rang out, and then a half-dozen Mounties rushed to Chase’s side.