13 Year Old Boy With Autism Shot By Salt Lake City Police
A police officer in Salt Lake City shot a 13-year-old boy with an autism spectrum disorder on Friday after his mother called 911 seeking help for her son, who was experiencing a mental health crisis.
Family Speaks Out After Shooting Involving 13-Year-Old Boy With Autism
Per an article at npr.org/2020/09/09/910975499/autistic-13-year-old-boy-shot-by-salt-lake-city-police;
“Golda Barton told CBS affiliate KUTV that she called police to request that a crisis intervention team transport her son, Linden Cameron, to a hospital for treatment as he was having a “mental breakdown.”
Barton said Linden has Asperger syndrome. She had just returned to work for the first time in nearly a year and said that her son suffers from separation anxiety.
Barton reportedly told officers that her son was unarmed, describing him as “a kid … trying to get attention, he doesn’t know how to regulate.”
She said she was told to stay put when officers arrived at her house. Within minutes, Barton said, she heard voices yelling, “Get down on the ground,” followed by several gunshots.
In a press briefing, Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Keith Horrocks said officers were called to the scene shortly after 10 p.m. to respond to a “violent psych issue” involving a juvenile who “had made threats to some folks with a weapon.”
Horrocks said there was no indication that the subject had a weapon, but stressed that the investigation was in its early stages.
Without using his name, Horrocks said that Linden, who is white, fled from the address on foot, and that one police officer fired at him during a “short foot pursuit.” Officers provided medical aid until Cameron was transported to a hospital, He is reported to be in serious condition.
According to an online fundraising page created by a family friend, Linden has injuries to his shoulder, ankles, intestines and bladder”.
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