Black student says police barged into her dorm after White classmates allegedly made false report
The family of a Black college student is calling for action after they say their daughter was a victim of a so-called "swatting" incident at her dorm at the campus of Stephen F. Austin University in Texas. Christin Evans, 17, said she woke up around 3 a.m. on September 14 as armed officers appeared in her room, CBS affiliate KHOU-TV reported.
Evans, a freshman at the university, alleges her three roommates and seven other girls — who she said were mostly White and older than Evans — falsely accused her of threatening to stab someone with scissors, and police were called. KHOU-TV noted that Evans has been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Evans said it's now hard for her to be on campus. "I was looking forward to making friends and having a good time on the cheer team. But since this happened, it's made it really really really hard ... I'm just taking it one day at a time," she said at a press conference Monday.
The university police department tweeted that they are "investigating a racially diverse group of students" and "the students will be held accountable for their actions at every possible level."
The president of the university said "SFA takes this matter very seriously" and urged patience as the investigation unfolds.
"Filing a false report violates the SFA Code of Conduct and potentially violates the law as well," SFA president Dr. Scott Gordon said. "The investigation and judicial processes take time. I want to urge everyone to withhold judgement until the conclusion of our investigation and process."
Randall Kallinen, the family's attorney, said Monday that the incident Evans experienced could have been a "Breonna Taylor circumstance." Taylor was a 26-year-old EMT who was fatally shot by police in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, during a drug raid.
"Luckily police did not shoot Christin Evans," Kallinen said. "This could have been a nightmare."
KHOU-TV reported that Evans has moved out of her dorm, but is still attending classes at the university.
"I feel shaken. I don't know what to think. I can't sleep at night. It has made me really paranoid. Making sure everything is OK before I go to sleep," Evans said.
"I just want justice for my daughter," Evans' mother said Monday. "She didn't do anything."
"My worst case scenario would be that she would be calling needing money or an issue with her grades ... Not that she would be calling telling me that police had drawn down on her at 3 a.m.," Evans' father said. "Yes, we're upset and we want something done about it."
Kallinen is calling on police to charge the "gang of adults" with a crime and warned that if something isn't done, it could happen again.