All 15-year-old Liam Phillips wanted to do was wear his homemade Ariana Grande mask and wave at passersby.

“I wanted to see what people will do. It’s not scary?” he said.

Not to most people driving by, who waved back that June afternoon.

But one driver called London police about a masked man with something in his hand, shouting at people.

The London police officer who arrived on the scene did not see an autistic teenager having fun.

He saw a masked man with something shiny, maybe a knife or boxcutter, in his hands.

Drop it, the officer ordered.

Curious, Liam walked forward.

Drop it, the officer ordered.

Then he drew his Taser.

Liam took off his mask and dropped the object — his black plastic sunglasses.

No charges were laid and the Taser was not fired.

But the close call has prompted calls by advocates for London police to renew training, which appears to have lapsed, on dealing with people with autism.

Advocates are also asking about the value of a police registry that has names and other information to avoid this kind of escalation.

“I think this should be a catalyst for change,” said Liam’s father Richard Phillips. “How many children are in the same position as Liam?”

An Ontario study released in the spring showed that one in six people with autism had interactions with police over an 18-month period. In nearly one in five cases, the person ended up in physical restraints.

Phillips is also worried about the police report now attached to his son. Police have read the report to him but he can’t get a copy for 30 days, Phillips said.

“It’s stressful. They’ve got a narrative now. The next time, it looks from the report like he rushed a car. They are not going to take the time to read that it was resolved.”

Here’s what Richard and Liam Phillips say about the June 8 incident:

Liam, who has the mental age of a 10-year-old, had drawn a picture of the singer Ariana Grande at school.

“You know the Manchester thing?” Liam asked a reporter, referring to the bombing of the singer’s show in May. “That’s what I’m supporting. To cheer for Ariana Grande.”

After school, he poked a couple of holes in the picture and used pipe cleaners to make a mask.

He stood outside his home, which backs onto Springbank Drive near Wonderland Road, and started waving to passing cars.

A boarder living with the family saw what he was doing and figured everything was fine.

“The next thing I know I’m getting a call from police,” Richard Phillips said.

His son has a curiosity about and enthusiasm for everything police related. When the officer stopped, it was only natural for him to approach the cruiser.

“He didn’t rush the car. He was curious. They thought he was a threat to the community in his 10-year-old mentality and in his enthusiasm,” Richard said.

Here’s the police version of what happened:

Police got a call from a citizen about 3:20 p.m. about a male wearing a mask, “yelling at individuals and concealing an unidentified object behind his back,” spokesperson Const. Sandasha Bough said in an email response to London Free Press questions.

At Quinella and Springbank drives, police found “a masked male, approximately 5’7”, 170 lbs, waving one arm around while the other arm was kept behind his back.”

An officer noticed the man was holding something in his hand and asked the male to drop it.

The male did not and approached the cruiser.

“As he was approaching, the officer observed the object to be silver and shiny, and perceived the object to be a small knife or box cutter,” Bough said.

“Police officers are trained to continually assess situations and potential threats. In this case, both the officer’s safety as well as the public’s safety appeared to be at risk as the officer observed young children getting off of a school bus nearby.”

The officer asked the male to drop the object again, but the male kept walking toward the officer, Bough said.

The officer pulled his Taser and ordered the male to drop the object again.

At that point, the male removed the mask and dropped the object, which turned out to be a pair of folded sunglasses.

The male identified himself and the officer learned he was a teenager.

The police report does not mention the sudden appearance of Salvation Army Major Kevin Metcalf.

Metcalf was driving by and saw what was happening. He knows Liam and stopped to help.

Liam’s father credits Metcalf with calming the situation down.

“He seemed concerned about what happened. When he told us he was visibly shaking,” Richard Phillips said.

Metcalf plays down his role, saying the situation was already calm when he arrived.

He said police didn’t do anything wrong but is angry that someone called in with information that was unfounded.

“It is the person who called the police who needs awareness,” Metcalf said.

But London police need some awareness training as well, advocates for autistic children said.

“I definitely feel there is a need for training,” Wendy Richardson, a volunteer with Autism Ontario’s London chapter, said.

“There was training. There isn’t much anymore. It hasn’t been done for a number of years.”

Several years ago, Autism Ontario’s London volunteers ran sessions to train police officers about autism.

“It taught police how to accurately assess behaviour rather than respond aggressively,” said Patricia Gallin, a volunteer who led the sessions.

London police last received training in autism in 2014, Bough said.

Hand in hand with the training was a registry that parents of autistic children, or autistic adults themselves, could join.

The registration gives officers contact information, “identifiable clothing items often worn by the individual, favourite attractions, potential hazards they are drawn to, medical conditions, the best method for an officer to approach, as well as any other pertinent information which may be helpful in case of an emergency,” Bough said.

“In addition, the registry provides information on which triggers may upset or calm a person — this includes details on what an officer should not do (i.e., loud noises, physical contact, etc.). Photos can be accessed by officers if they are provided as well. We share the registry information and links on a regular basis on social media as well.”

The training and registry “totally slowed everything down. They realized they needed to handle situations differently, that this person in front of them wasn’t just some punk kid being violent,” Gallin said.

Officers need that information before they go to a scene, said former police employee Lisa Heslop, who arranged for the training sessions.

“The officers don’t know what they’re dealing with when they go out, and every person is different,” she said.

But there’s confusion about what is happening with the registry. Some parents have the impression the registry has lapsed.

That’s not true, Bough said. But there are parents who call in believing Autism Ontario’s registry and the police registry are one and the same, Bough said.

Parents need to register with police to get on the police list, she said.

But the registry only works if an officer uses it, Richard Phillips notes.

“What is the point of the registry if you’re not going to take the time to ask the person their name? My son was registered, and they didn’t find out until after they pulled the weapon on him. I don’t know what the purpose of the registration is any more.”

Liam was also showing signs of autistic behaviour, rocking on his feet, said Phillips, who runs a program in Jamaica, called the Liam Project, advocating for children there.

“Take five seconds, 10 seconds, look at the scenario, see the kid is rocking and you can see he is autistic,” Richard Phillips said.

When he talked about the incident on the street outside his home, Liam rocked on his feet. He’s engaging and friendly and his voice is clearly childlike.

“Very scary,” he said. “I almost got Tasered but I didn’t.”

rrichmond@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/RandyRatLFPress