TEMPLE, Texas (KXXV) — Laticia Kimber was headed out to grab dinner for herself and her 10-year-old son when her garage door lifted and she was confronted by several police officers pointing guns at her.
In a 25 News exclusive, we obtained the body camera footage of the few minutes that Kimber says have traumatized both her and her son.
See that footage in the player above.
It happened on Aug. 20 in Temple. Officers were responding to a 911 call for a domestic dispute and were looking for a man with a gun. What they didn't know yet was that they were at the wrong house.
As Kimber headed out for dinner, officers held her at gunpoint.
"I had my hands up and I kept saying, don't get shot, don't get shot," Kimber said. "I wanted to make sure I was smart in the moment so I could live through it."
That's what she was thinking as several police officers held her at gunpoint right as she was about to head out to grab dinner.
"I see their eyes go back like behind me and I look back and my son comes out the house scared, holding his iPad, they still got the guns on up," Kimber said.
As it unfolded, Kimber realized the officers were at the wrong location.
"I hear dispatch on like one of the radios say an address. It was not my address," Kimber said.
"There's been so many stories of police officers harming, even killing people because they've gone to the wrong house, you know, it, it's impacted us greatly, but it could have been fatal and thinking about that is scary," Kimber said.
As the encounter ended, one of the officers tried to comfort her son.
"One of the officers, he was asking my son, 'Hey, are you OK?' He did say, 'I'm sorry that, you know, that this has happened.' and he gave me his card and they just ended up leaving. Like it was no big deal," Kimber said.
The interaction lasted less than four minutes but has left both of them battling anxiety and PTSD.
"He started having a hard time sleeping. He used to want to be a police officer. Now, he doesn't want to be a police officer, he's scared of police," Kimber said.
"I hate that for him because I've always taught him that police are safe. They're here to protect you, and then when they come to our home and he, hold us both by gunpoint, how can I tell them they're here to protect you?" Kimber said.
In a statement, Temple PD told me the mixup happened with dispatch, saying:
"The Temple Police Department works closely with the Bell County Communications Center (BCCC), which dispatches officers to calls for service based on information received through 911.
During the August 20 incident, Temple Police officers were dispatched to an incorrect address. Upon arriving, officers initially responded based on the information provided to them. Once officers observed a child at the residence, they immediately lowered their firearms. Officers were then provided the correct address and redirected to the appropriate location.
We recognize that situations like this can be concerning for residents. The safety of our community and our officers remains our highest priority, and we continually work with our dispatch partners to ensure accurate information and appropriate responses to calls for service."
25 News also reached out to the Bell County Communications Center for a statement regarding dispatch. They provided the following:
"Our protocol is to verify the location of an emergency both verbally with the caller and through the use of technology. In cases like this one, when the call does not originate from the location of the emergency, we still verify the address verbally, but it makes any further technological verification difficult."
Kimber hasn't watched the video. She says it's too hard to think about reliving those moments.
She told 25 News she didn't feel like there would be accountability for what happened. That's when she put in a public records request with the Texas Attorney General's Office. It released the video to her, and she shared it with us so that we could share it with you.
Kimber says she hopes this won't happen again and that first responders can be more accurate moving forward.
"This could have been anybody. This could have been any home. It could have been any family, and it really, as devastating as it was, it really could have had a more fatal outcome," Kimber said.
As of now, there is no database in the state or community tracking mistaken addresses for response calls.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
