13 Year-Old Autistic Boy Shot By Police

Abby Allison, Staff Writer

Last Friday Linden Cameron, 13, was shot by a police officer in Salt Lake City. Linden, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, had experienced a “mental breakdown” earlier in the day. His mother, Golda Barton had just gone back to work for the first time in nearly a year, and Linden was having an issue adjusting to this change.

Barton called the police, asking for a crisis intervention team in an attempt to help her son. When police arrived Linden ran away. Rather than using a tasing or tackling the small boy, an officer fired their gun, striking Linden. Officers provided medical care to Linden until an ambulance arrived to take him to the local hospital. Linden is suffering damage to his shoulder, ankle, intestines, bladder, and colon.

Though Barton says her son was unarmed, it is still unclear if Linden had a weapon or not. This case is still being investigated by a team of officers from the West Valley City Police Department, so not all details regarding this incident have been released yet.