Detroit family still traumatized after they claim DPD used excessive force on night officer was killed
(CBS DETROIT) - A Detroit family says they're still dealing with the trauma of when they say Detroit police mistakenly raided their home.
It was on the night officers were searching for veteran police officer Corporal Rasheen McClain's killer.
Three years later and the family says there's been no apology from the department and no accountability as their lawsuit stalls in the courts due to a backlog of cases.
"It impacted our lives forever," said Joshua Wright.
Joshua remembers the day like it was yesterday. Officers arriving to his grandmother Lisa's home with their guns drawn, screaming at them both to get on the ground and placing them in handcuffs.
Both Joshua, and Lisa, who was 70 at the time, had no idea why they were there and had no clue an officer was killed. They say police let them and to this day never told them why they were singled out.
"Why me and my grandmother," Joshua Wright said. "It just don't add up."
The incident has changed the Wrights' lives forever. Lisa has health problems related to a stroke she suffered on the night of the shooting. Joshua Wright had to get hip surgery as well. They believe what took place was excessive force, saying officers went too far.
"They grabbed my hand and put me behind my back. I will never forget that. I saw them misuse my grandson. Of everything else that happened to me, that was the worst to me," Lisa Wright said. "It was horrible…horrible."
"By the grace of God, I'm still alive because you got all of those officers. Any one of them could have pulled the trigger at any moment now I'm a headline of a news story," said Joshua Wright reflecting on the incident.
The Wright family is suing the Detroit Police Department for $20 million for their handling of the incident, but it's been delayed due to a backlog of cases in Wayne County courts.
Michael Fortner, the family's attorney, says the delays has not discouraged them in their pursuit for accountability.
Fortner says he won't stop until the family gets justice in the case.
"I get upset about it. It hurts me," said Fortner. "Over the years, I don't feel any less passionate or less anger about it."
CBS Detroit reached out to the Detroit Police Department for a response, but a spokesperson for DPD declined to comment.
