A Black college student says she was the victim of a “swatting” prank at her dorm room at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas.
CBS News reports that 17-year-old Christin Evans said she woke up around 3 a.m. on Sept. 14 to find armed officers in her room. A resident assistant had called campus police after her three roommates and seven other girls—most of whom were white and older than Evans—allegedly falsely accused her of threatening to stab someone with scissors.
Swatting refers to the filing of a false report designed to incite an aggressive police response, including a SWAT team. Evans has since been cleared of any crimes, with surveillance video proving that Evans had done nothing wrong. Police also later said that the report was fake.
Evans’ parents think the incident was racially motivated, pointing to the fact that most of the students involved were white.
During a press conference on Monday, Evans said she’s having a hard time being 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.
“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 added.
The university police department tweeted that it is “investigating a racially diverse group of students” and “the students will be held accountable for their actions at every possible level.”
The university’s president, Dr. Scott Gordon also took to Twitter, writing that “SFA takes this matter very seriously.”
Gordon continued, “Filing a false report violates the SFA Code of Conduct and potentially violates the law as well. The investigation and judicial processes take time. I want to urge everyone to withhold judgement [sic] until the conclusion of our investigation and process.”
