Salt Lake City police shoot 13 year old autistic

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A 13-year-old autistic boy is still recovering in the hospital after getting shot several times by police on Friday night in Glendale. Linden Cameron had injuries to his shoulder, both ankles, intestines, and bladder, according to his mother, Golda Barton.

As an officer-involved shooting investigation is underway with the Salt Lake City Police Department, the boy's mother told 2News what happened. Watch the exclusive interview at 10 p.m. on Channel 2 with Kelly Vaughen.

Barton said she was the one who called the police and asked for a crisis intervention team (CIT). She said her son, who was Aspergers, was having a mental breakdown. She spoke briefly about how she was told how the CIT would respond:

“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.”

She explained to the CIT that her son was having a mental breakdown and needed to be transported to the hospital for treatment. It was the first day Barton had returned to work in almost a year because she can't be away from her son: "he has bad separation anxiety," she explained. On the phone with officers, Barton told officers the best way to approach her son:

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.

She said she was to stay while the two officers went through the front door of the home in the area of 500 S. Navajo Street in the Glendale neighborhood. She said in less than five minutes, she heard "get down on the ground" and several gunshots were heard.

She thought her son was dead and the officers didn't immediately say if he was or was not dead. They handcuffed him, according to Barton. Additionally, she said she heard from someone that the other officer grabbing his own head in disbelief for what happened. He said out loud, according to what the mother was told, "He's just a child, what are you doing?"

This account of what happened is all according to Barton. SLCPD said police were called to the area for a report of a "violent psych issue" involving the juvenile "having a mental episode" and "making threats to some folks with a weapon." Sgt. Horrocks did not say whether a weapon was located. He said he knew of no indication that there was a weapon found but didn't know for sure. According to police policy, the shooting will be investigated by an Officer-Involved Critical Incident protocol team, which was already on scene Saturday morning.

In the interview, that aired at 10 p.m. Sunday on 2News, Barton is visibly heartbroken and says:

He's a small child. Why didn't you just tackle him? He's a baby. He has mental issues.

Cameron's father drove down from Iowa immediately after he heard the news on Friday night. He was present in the interview. "He an amazing father," she explained. Besides the two of them, Barton said she has no family support in the area. The family only received one card, according to Barton.

Barton showed much appreciation for those who wrote in the card and called it a nice surprise: "We are used to being alone."

Briefly, Barton explained her family faces tragedy after tragedy. She called this incident the tip of the iceberg. She explained Nevada police shot her father in January 2020 – 2News has yet to confirm this fact as of Sunday evening.

Here's a picture of Linden

I think the mother needs to be investigated. Children who are raised properly and consistently disciplined usually don't have mental breakdowns. It's her responsibility to discipline her child and teach him how to control his emotions. I think parents who refuse to teach and discipline their children should be charged with child abuse and have their children placed in foster care.

I think the mother needs to be investigated. Children who are raised properly and consistently disciplined usually don't have mental breakdowns. It's her responsibility to discipline her child and teach him how to control his emotions. I think parents who refuse to teach and discipline their children should be charged with child abuse and have their children placed in foster care.

Looking at this the mother said he was unarmed yet the Police thought he was armed....could this be a case of the person taking the call bungling the message or it being misheard/misinterpreted?

They really need to change how these types of calls are handled.

How much time a day do you spend with children? Any children.

When I was a child they sent me to a couple of different special schools which really did almost nothing because no-one ever explained to me what exactly I was doing wrong nor why I was being punished.

This is the hard part to many parents of children with our issues, getting through that they are doing wrong and more importantly why.

Most of my problems were caused by bad parenting. Whenever I hear about parents raising autistic children, I consistently see the same bad parenting being used (no discipline, catering to their sensitivities, neglecting their feelings, telling them emotions just happen, etc.).