College student wakes to armed police raiding dorm in false report, Texas family says
The family of a Texas university student wants answers after she woke up in her dorm to campus police drawing guns on her.
Two weeks after the Sept. 14 incident at Stephen F. Austin University, the school’s president and police chief says it is investigating the false report made on Christin Evans.
Her roommates and seven other girls falsely accused Christin, 17, of threatening to stab someone with scissors, she said, according to KHOU. The students told a resident advisor about the fake threat and police were notified, KPRC reported.
Police raided the student’s dorm at 3 a.m. with guns drawn, her parents said, according to KTRK.
“I cant sleep at night because of this. It has made me really paranoid,” Christin said in a press conference.
Her parents say text messages they received from the university’s police chief said surveillance footage proved Christin is innocent, KPRC reported.
The family believes she was a victim of swatting, KHOU reported. Swatting occurs when people play a prank on a person that leads police to believe a crime is taking place.
Christin, who is Black, may have been targeted because of her race, according to her parents, KTRK reported.
“This could have been a Breonna Taylor circumstance,” the family’s attorney, Randall Kallinen, said at the press conference, referring to a Black woman killed earlier this year by Louisville police.
Christin’s mom, LaShondra Evans, said Monday she wants justice, KTRK reported. “I want the people responsible to have consequences. They played with her life,” the mother said.
Stephen F. Austin President Dr. Scott Gordon said in a statement Monday filing a false report is a violation of the law and has directed a thorough investigation.
“Each perpetrator will be dealt with appropriately,” he stated. “My heart goes out to the young lady who was an innocent victim in this matter. We will do all we can to support her and her family through this heinous ordeal.”
John Fields, the chief of the university’s police department, said the incident involves “a racially diverse group of students” who he added will be held accountable.
Christin is still enrolled at the university but has moved out of the dorm, KHOU reported.
