Thirteen-year-old autistic boy is shot by police, shock in the US

Published on: 09/09/2020 09:28 AM

A 13-year-old boy with Asperger’s syndrome was seriously injured after being shot by a police officer in Salt Lake City, Utah. The mother, Golda Barton, told US media, explaining that she called the police because her son, Linden Cameron, was going through a crisis and needed help to handle the situation.

When the agents arrived, the woman continues, the 13-year-old fled. At that moment, he heard someone yell “get down” three times, followed by several shots. The boy is now hospitalized with injuries to his shoulder, ankles, intestines, bladder and colon. “He wasn’t armed, he was trying to get attention. Why didn’t they take care of him? He’s a boy. He has mental problems,” the woman said through tears.

Local law enforcement spokesman Keith Horrocks told a news conference that officers had been called to the area because a child was having a “psychotic episode and threatened some people with a gun.” But police confirmed that no weapons were found at the scene.