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(CNN) — A 13-year-old boy was seriously injured after being shot by a police officer in Salt Lake City on Friday night, according to his mother.
Golda Barton said her son Linden Cameron, who has Asperger syndrome, experienced a “mental breakdown” earlier that day. It had been her first day back to work in nearly a year and Linden was having trouble coping, she confirmed to CNN in an email.
Barton also confirmed that she called the police and requested a crisis intervention team to help her manage the situation and obtain treatment for her son.
“I told them: ‘Look, he’s unarmed. It has nothing. He just gets mad and starts yelling, ‘”Barton told KUTV, a CNN affiliate, about his call to the police. «He is a child who tries to attract attention. He does not know how to regulate ».
When police arrived, Barton said his son ran away. She told KUTV that she heard someone yell “get down on the ground” three times, followed by several shots.
Why didn’t they use a stun gun? Why didn’t they shoot him with a rubber bullet? ”Barton told the station. «He is a little boy. Why don’t they just tear it down? You are big cops with huge amounts of resources.
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Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Keith Horrocks told a news conference Saturday that officers had been called to the area because a child was having a “psychological episode and had threatened some people with a gun.”
Linden Cameron
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The boy fled and while police were chasing him, an officer fired his gun and hit him, Horrocks said. Police officers provided medical help to the minor until medical personnel arrived, Horrocks said. He was then taken to a local hospital, according to police.
Linden’s injuries include damage to his shoulder, ankles, intestines, bladder and colon, as well as nerve damage, Barton told CNN.
It is unclear whether the minor actually had a weapon, or exactly what threats the police were said to be responding to.
Barton told CNN that his son was unarmed. Detective Greg Wilking, a spokesman for the Salt Lake City Police Department, told CNN on Tuesday that he could not speak specifically about whether the minor had a weapon or “what were the perceived threats from police officers,” and that those questions would be determined by research.
“Mom can say what she wants, but there is an investigation that has to happen and this process that has to take place,” Wilking said.
The incident is being investigated by a team consisting primarily of officers from the West Valley City Police Department, according to Wilking. West Valley City is a suburb of Salt Lake City, both are part of Salt Lake County.
Once the investigation is complete, the information will be turned over to the district attorney’s office, who will conduct its own investigation, Wilking said. The city also has a civil review board that investigates complaints about police conduct.
“While full details of this incident have not yet been released while an investigation is under way, I will say that I am grateful this young man is alive and no one else was injured,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall, in a statement, according to KUTV.
“Regardless of the circumstances, what happened Friday night is a tragedy and I hope that this investigation is handled quickly and transparently for the good of all involved.”
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