Linden Cameron: Bodycam video shows Salt Lake City cops shooting 13-year-old autistic boy during 'mental episode'
SALT LAKE CITY: A 13-year-old autistic teenage boy from Utah, Linden Cameron, was shot by the authorities. The child's mother, Golda Barton, had called the police during one of Linden's mental breakdowns, requesting a crisis intervention team (CIT). She remembered telling the authorities her son was "unarmed" and that he simply "gets mad" and "starts yelling and screaming".
The officers released body camera footage from the incident on Monday, September 21. In the videos, Salt Lake City officers are seen chasing the child down an alley after arriving at his house. Cameron then collapses as a series of gunshots ring out in the background, NY Post reports.
The teenager is heard saying, "I don’t feel good. I don’t feel good." He survived the gunshots but did suffer from broken bones and also pierced organs, the family's attorney revealed. The child's mother Barton had earlier spoken to the police and said that her son had told her that he had a gun and had threatened to shoot her male coworker.
However, she did tell officers that it was possibly a BB gun or a pellet gun with no indications that the child was armed. Barton had wanted the child to be hospitalized to get some help for his mental issues. The video shows how the officers had said that they would proceed as if the boy did have access to a real gun. Barton revealed that the child was "triggered" after seeing the police. She shared, "He sees the badge and he automatically thinks you are going to kill him or he has to defend himself in some way. He freaks out."
A Salt Lake City ordinance led to the video being made public. The shooting has led to outrage over how the police deal with mental health issues. In one video, two officers are heard discussing if they should or should not approach the child as they were concerned that the incident would end up in a shooting. One officer said, "Especially when he hates cops, it’s probably gonna end in a shooting."
The police arrive at the house as one says he can see some movement in the backyard. The officers then start to run after the boy, telling him to stop and get on the ground. When they catch up to the boy, they tell him to get on the ground again which he ignores. A series of gunshot sounds are heard after this. The videos also don't seem to show the child holding any weapon.
Barton had told dispatchers that her son was having a breakdown and she needed some assistance from a crisis intervention officer. "My biggest fear is that, I don’t know I just don’t want him to die. But the times they’ve came he has been gone like he’ll take off and go running. That’s why I don’t want to go there… I just don’t want to alarm him. That’s why we need a mental health worker. It’s super important."
Post the brutal attack, the 13-year-old suffered injuries to his shoulders, both ankles, intestines and bladder. His family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the boy's medical expenses.