A Black freshman at a Texas university woke up surrounded by law enforcement agents with their guns drawn.

Seventeen-year-old Stephen F. Austin University (SFA) freshman Christin Evans was the target of a cruel and dangerous prank known as “swatting,” the act of falsely reporting that someone is about to commit a crime. Officers sometimes respond to these calls with lethal force. 

On Sept. 14, police stormed Evans’ dorm after her three white roommates, along with seven others, falsely accused the teenager of brandishing scissors while threatening to stab other students, according to KPRC in Houston. The police later determined the girl was innocent after reviewing video footage. Evans says the roommates are racists. 

A press conference regarding the incident was held on Monday. Randall Kallinen, a civil rights attorney, expressed his concern regarding what happened to Evans.

“Their daughter was sleeping and awoken at 3 o’clock in the morning by local police with flashlights shining out and their guns drawn," the lawyer said. "This could have been a Breonna Taylor circumstance.”

“They had falsely accused Christin of having scissors and threatening to stab people,” he said.

The girl’s mother, LaShondra Evans, said she wants justice for her daughter.

"I want justice. I want [the people responsible] to have consequences," the mom said. "They played with her life."

Christin, who was in tears during the press conference, expressed how the situation destroyed her first year of college.

“I was looking forward to making friends and having a good time on the cheer team, but since this has happened, it’s made it really, really hard," she said. 

Her father, Chris Evans, who was visibly shaken, told the public that his only worry when his child went to school was that he'd be having to send her money or be concerned about her academic performance.

"Yes, we're upset and we want something to be done about it," he said. "When I sent my daughter off to school, my worse-case scenario was that she should call needing money or an issue with her grades."

Evans has since moved out of student housing, but is still enrolled in classes at the university. SFA President Scott Gordon released a statement regarding the racist attack on Evans some two weeks after drawing heat over his inaction.

The statement read:

"I have been briefed on the incident that took place on September 14th and want everyone to know that SFA takes this matter very seriously. 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 until the conclusion of our investigation and process. 

I have directed staff to be thorough and keep me apprised throughout this investigation. 

Each perpetrator will be dealt with appropriately. 

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.

We will not have this at SFA!"

Campus police say they are still investigating the incident. No action has been taken against any of the students so far. 

Although SFA Police Chief John Fields appeared to drag his feet in response to bringing justice to the teen, he released a video statement saying, "a racially diverse group of students were involved in an incident involving a false report. The students will be held accountable for this at every possible level."

A text message between an officer and the chief appears to ensure that there is no question of Evans’ innocence in the paperwork. 

He questioned the vagueness “surrounding Christin’s innocence.”

Fields then asked for an updated report that framed, in detail, the cheerleader’s lack of involvement. 

Ironically, the university’s namesake is known as the “Father of Texas,” according to the site Texas Beyond History. The city of Austin was named after the colonizer, who was instrumental in taking control of Texas from Mexico. 

Austin was also the driving force behind the rapid growth of the slave trade in the state, even after Mexico tried to ban the institution.