Body camera video released in shooting of 13-year-old with autism

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Salt Lake City mayor and police chief gave statements before body camera video was released of the police shooting of a 13-year-old boy who has autism.

The mother of Linden Cameron said the teen has Asperger’s Syndrome. He was shot by police on September 4.

Golda Barton said she called 911 to ask for a critical incident team to help Linden during a mental health episode.

His family said he was shot several times, but did survive and remained in the hospital with critical injuries.

Police had made few comments about what happened before Chief Mike Brown’s comments during a brief press conference Monday.

“I am very saddened by this tragic situation,” Chief Brown said. “A 13-year-old boy was shot, and as a father of three young sons, this has had a big impact on me, personally.”

Brown talked about the need for the police department to partner with parts of the community that specialize in mental health crises.

“Too often our officers are called to deal with these difficult problems, which frequently are not criminal in nature,” he said.

Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the shooting marked the beginning of an a change to the way the city addresses public safety.

“This shooting is another tragedy – a tragedy for this young boy, for his mother, for families and individuals who have acute mental health needs, and for our community, who may look at this situation and see themselves or a loved one reflected in it,” she said.

Department protocol called for the body camera video of the shooting to be released within 10 business days.

Just in: @slcpolice planning a 3pm press conf on the release of body cam footage of 13yr old Linden Cameron being shot by an officer. @slcmayor also expected to make statement @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/IWHApTgpKw

— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) September 21, 2020

Mendenhall announced a shift in the way body camera footage from officer-involved critical incidents would be handled going forward.

All of the footage, she said, will be released on the police department’s website to aid in transparency to the public.

The video showed Barton speaking with police before they approached the teen. She described Linden’s state of mind and told them he would likely feel threatened when he saw them, and feel he needed to defend himself.

The teen ran from the house as police approached. After a brief foot chase, officers ordered Linden to the ground.

As the teen appeared to be slowly walking away from one officer, shots rang out. Around 10 shots were fired.

An officer then yelled repeatedly at the teen to show his hands, to which he could be heard saying, “I don’t feel good. I don’t feel good.”

Breaking: @slcpd just released body cam footage of 13yr old shot. The boy is recovering at Primary Childrens. https://t.co/2tnbGNG5dM

— Dan Rascon (@TVDanRascon) September 21, 2020