Utah Police Shoot 13-Year-Old Boy With Autism After His Mother Calls For Help

Imagine calling the police for help, but instead of helping, they make the situation worse. Well, that’s what happened to a mother in Utah.

13-year-old Linden Cameron was shot by Glendale, Utah police Friday night, and he is still in the hospital after suffering injuries to both ankles, his shoulder, intestine, and bladder.

Golda Barton, Cameron’s mother, told CBS affiliate KUTV she called the police and asked for a crisis intervention team when her son was having a mental breakdown, CBS News reports. Barton says she informed police that her son has Asperger’s and needed to be transported to the hospital for treatment.

“This is how to deal with people with mental health issues. So, you call them, and they’re supposed to come out and be able to deescalate a situation using the most minimal force possible,” Barton told the news outlet.

“I said, ‘He’s unarmed, he doesn’t have anything, he just gets mad, and he starts yelling and screaming. He’s a kid; he’s trying to get attention, he doesn’t know how to regulate,'” Barton said.

Within five minutes of arriving on the scene, Barton, who was waiting outside, said she heard “get down on the ground” and several gunshots. She told KUTV that she thought her son was dead, adding that officers did not immediately tell her if her son was dead or not.

13-year-old Cameron was then handcuffed.

Barton says her son suffers from separation anxiety; therefore, she can’t be away from him. The incident was the first day she had returned to work in a year.

The Salt Lake City police department is investigating the shooting. In a statement to KUTV, Sergeant Keith Horrocks said authorities were called to the area for a report of a “violent psych issue” that involved a juvenile “having a mental episode” and “making threats to some folks with a weapon.”

Horrocks said the shooting occurred shortly after 10 pm and left Cameron in serious condition. Horrocks also said he knew of no indication that there was a weapon at the scene but did not know for sure.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall weighed in on the incident: “While the full details of this incident are yet to be released as an investigation takes place, I will say that I am thankful this young boy is alive and no one else was injured. No matter the circumstances, what happened on Friday night is a tragedy, and I expect this investigation to be handled swiftly and transparently for the sake of everyone involved.”

But questions still go unanswered for Barton, who describes her son as “a small child.”

“Why didn’t you just tackle him? He’s a baby. He has mental issues,” she said.