Chicago police are the target of a civil rights lawsuit following their actions during an alleged wrongful raid. As multiple news outlets reported, the Chicago Police Department is being sued by Regina Evans and Steven Winters — the parents of Reshyla and Savayla Winters — two young girls held at gunpoint during an encounter with cops in 2019.
According to the suit, officers made their way to the Winters residence on Aug. 7, 2019 to execute a search warrant. The cops claimed the apartment was a hideout for suspects who were previously fighting at a gas station, but a police report and information from the suit say that there is no footage of suspects walking into the building.
Instead, the bodycam video shows as officers bursted through the home and conducted a search in each room. The cops, per the clips, pointed the gun at Evans’ father before eventually doing the same to the two young girls as they laid in their beds.
Upon hearing the commotion, the girls woke up and noticed firearms and a flashlight pointed in their direction — an experience that allegedly led to their “lasting psychological drama,” which includes “severe, long-term, emotional and psychological distress, and symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
“Savayla explained that she was woken up by the loud noise, and then she saw the light in her face, and she saw something black pointing at her,” Evans said in an interview with “Good Morning America.” “And Reshyla said that she saw a white light, and she saw something big and black pointed at her, and she started crying.”
“They were scared. They didn’t know what was going on. They thought something had happened to mommy and daddy,” she continued. “And in this moment, Reshyla is still having nightmares, still can’t sleep. She’s screaming in her sleep. Savayla is 11 years old … she’s having nightmares, and she wakes up.”
Aside from the trauma caused by Chicago police, Evans’ lawyer alleges that the officers illegally raided the home without consent from the Winters’ family or a proper search warrant.