Air rifle incident

"A boy bullied by Facebook trolls took a gun out in public and aimed at police marksmen in a bid to make them kill him."

"Autistic Samuel Barlow, 16, is behind bars awaiting sentence after admitting five charges over the rampage. But his father said he fired no shots and never wanted to harm anyone.And he told how his son snapped and ran amok with the air rifle after being "pushed over the edge" by Facebook bullies..."

"Barlow hiked six miles across country to Lerwick, where he walked through gardens in the town’s Westerloch area, tried to get into houses and threatened two terrified residents with the gun. He then advanced towards the islands’ two firearms officers and repeatedly pointed the weapon at them and their vehicle. The police did not fire. Instead, they tried to persuade Barlow to give himself up."

"Prosecutor Duncan Mackenzie told Lerwick Sheriff Court: "I’m not sure if the accused appreciates how close he came to being shot." He said the officers’ professionalism, restraint and courage had saved the teenager’s life."

"Officers, who had been trying in vain for some time to persuade Barlow to surrender, moved in and overpowered him at 5.15pm. Barlow was arrested and is being held at Polmont young offenders institution. He appeared in court on Wednesday by video link. The teenager pled guilty to four charges of assaulting police and members of the public by pointing the air rifle at them..."

"Paul, a crofter and father of six, deeply regrets the fear and disruption his son caused. But he wants the people of Shetland to understand what drove him to act as he did.  "Samuel has autism, and unknown to us had been stalked and menaced for three to four months on the internet. "People were manipulating him. This is what caused it. He was stable until these people got a hold on him."

"Paul said he and Barlow’s mum Ruth, 43, had been trying for years to get their son the help he needs. But he added: "The system wouldn’t do anything. The educational system failed him. We’ve always known he had learning difficulties but they’ve avoided diagnosing it as autism. "Autism is massively under-diagnosed in Shetland – there’s no psychological support. He was bullied at school for most of the time he was there."We didn’t want it to happen this way, but this is getting Samuel the help and support he needs."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/father-teenager-who-aimed-rifle-4793983