A Black family held at gunpoint when Texas police wrongly suspected their car was stolen said Thursday that they decided to speak out after seeing video of the traffic stop and realizing two officers had aimed firearms at their 13-year-old son while his hands were up.
The family along with their attorney Mark Hampton held a press conference in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the family lives.
Demetria Heard recounted the encounter with Frisco Police, which she says has left her, her husband Myron Heard, and her young son and nephew forever traumatized.
Heard said the family had just pulled out of the hotel they were staying at during their weekend trip to the Dallas area for a youth basketball tournament when she noticed a Frisco Police cruiser tailing her car.
She did not initially think anything of it but alerted her husband after a few minutes went by.
A female officer initiated a traffic stop along the Dallas North Tollway, but did not immediately get out of her patrol car.
A short time later, Demetria said additional police officers arrived on the scene, shut down traffic and had their guns out ordering everyone inside the vehicle to get out with their hands up.
“At this point, I’m a little scared but I do it,” said Demetria through tears.
Demetria said she let her keys drop to the ground and complied with the officers.
She then informed them that she had a license to carry and a gun in her locked glove compartment.
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“There is a gun in there,” another officer is heard saying on body camera video released by Frisco PD. “If you reach in that car, you may get shot.”
Everyone exited the car. The boys were visibly upset on video.
“My brother mentioned [Jayden] was screaming: Uncle, we’re about to die! We’re about to die,” said Dia Nicholson whose young son was in the car.
“It just put me in a bad place as a protector of them because you got guns on all of them,” said Myron Heard who was in the front passenger seat. “If I was to do something, I wouldn’t be here. All because of a mistake.”
Frisco Police declined an interview Thursday, but the department’s spokesman told NBC DFW that the female officer who admitted to mistakenly entering "AZ" instead of "AR" for the Arkansas license plate remains on active duty and not on administrative leave.
Body camera video from the stop showed that more than seven minutes passed before officers holstered their weapons after recognizing their mistake. They apologized repeatedly, with one saying they responded with guns drawn because it’s “the normal way we pull people out of a stolen car.” Another assured the family that they were in no danger because they followed the officers’ orders.
The traffic stop is still under review, according to Frisco Police.
The family said they expect the department to make changes to how they handle these kinds of stops.
“For as long as she sat behind the car, she could have ran the plates again and all that could’ve been avoided,” Myron said. “My thing is, if you typed in Arizona instead of Arkansas, we all make mistakes but notice your mistakes before they've got several guns on my family.”
“This escalated to 1,000 when it could have stayed at .5,” he added.
The family said they decided to consult with their attorney friend and come forward after seeing the officers’ body camera video released by Frisco Police.
“I was there present in that moment, but where they had me I couldn't see everything, so when I seen that video it really broke me, it really broke me bad,” Demetria said.
Demetria described the female officer at fault as "dismissive" toward her husband’s feelings following the realization of her error.
“You didn’t seem genuine at all. You were just trying to plead your case,” she said. “You never said genuinely ‘I apologize.’ It was just: ‘My bad. My bad. I made a mistake’ and I’ll never understand that because now that’s something my son is going to have to deal with.”
The boys have lost their appetite, interest in sports and refuse to talk about what happened.
The family’s attorney told reporters they would not be discussing any potential litigation filed against the Frisco Police Department. They are awaiting additional information from the police before deciding their next steps.
Asked to respond to anyone who would say they are trying to cash in on this mistake, the group quickly said: “We don’t respond to ignorance.”
The families said they received calls from the department’s deputy chief of police and Chief David Shilson, but said the calls only came after a video of the stop was shared widely online and people began calling the department to express their anger.
Demetria, a nurse and her husband who is an educator said they have never had run-ins with police.
Jason Nicholson, whose son Jayden was in the car with his aunt, uncle and cousin, said: “For this to happen to a family that are upstanding citizens in America, that are innocent of any crimes, is unimaginable.”
