Linden Cameron suffered injuries to his intestines, bladder, shoulder and ankles.
Salt Lake City police released bodycam video Monday to shed light on why an officer shot an autistic teen who was having a mental breakdown.
As theGRIO reported earlier, Golda Barton, the mother of 13-year-old Linden Cameron, said her son has Asperger syndrome. She told CNN that on Sept. 4, Cameron was having a hard time coping with her going back to work after nearly a year. When he suffered a mental health crisis she called 911 and asked for a intervention team to help manage the situation.
“I said, ‘Look, he’s unarmed. He doesn’t have anything. He just gets mad and he starts yelling and screaming,’” Barton told CNN affiliate KUTV about her desperate call for help. “He’s a kid, he’s trying to get attention. He doesn’t know how to regulate.”
Read More: Utah police shot autistic boy, 13, after mom called 911 for help
Barton claims Cameron threatened to shoot one of her co-workers and break windows in the family home.
It isn’t clear whether the cops dispatched to the residence were crisis intervention specialists. One of them is heard on the footage questioning their “approach” to a “psych problem.”
“We could call sergeant,” the officer said, according to the body camera footage. “And tell him the situation. Because I’m not about to get in a shooting because he’s upset.”
In the 911 audio, Barton tells the dispatcher that her father was killed by sheriff’s deputies in Nevada so her son “does not like cops at all.”
“That’s why we need a mental health worker,” she said. “It’s super important.”
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Cameron fled the residence when officers arrived. In the disturbing bodycam video, he is seen running away from the cops and not complying when ordered to the ground. Moments later, the officer repeatedly shoots at the teenager. Another officer is heard saying, “Pull your hands out.”
It isn’t clear whether Cameron was armed. He reportedly suffered injuries to his intestines, bladder, shoulder and ankles. He remains in a hospital.
Barton launched a GoFundMe page to cover her son’s medical expenses. It has raised over $100k.
“The money from this fund will be used to pay for Linden’s hospital bills, physical therapy, and trauma healing for Linden, and also to assist his family as they move through his healing,” the fundraiser states.
The campaign goes on to describe Cameron as a boy who enjoys “video games, four wheeling, and longboarding with his older brother, and building things.” Adding, “He is always looking for ways to help people out. Linden is very important to his family, and his mother and brother are supporting him through his recovery.”
None of the officers involved in the shooting have been identified.
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