Family sues Orange County Sheriff's Office over violent SWAT team search

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A mother and her daughter are suing the Orange County Sheriff's Office after one of them was injured during a SWAT team search.

The women, who didn't want to be identified, said the Sheriff's Office SWAT team came looking for a family member who didn't live at the home back in 2010.

"I got up and went towards the door and literally once I went towards the door, boom!" the daughter said.

The woman was a minor at the time of the incident and said she was home alone when deputies showed up.

"I was 17. I was 5 feet 2 inches and 100 pounds wet," she said. "And they came in shooting."

The SWAT team apparently opened fire inside the home and a family dog was killed.

"The dog was startled and ran to the closet, to the room, and when he ran to the room is when they shot him," she said.

An incident report states SWAT team mebers said the dog aggressively came toward them when they entered the house.

The undentified woman said she was also injured by bullets the shooting. Photos show wounds to her leg and apparent bullet holes in the floor and walls of the home.

The Sheriff's Office search warrant was issued in connection with a wanted man believed to be a drug dealer.

"I said, 'Chris hasn't lived here in weeks so if you've been surveillancing my house, why are you here?" the woman said.

Deputies found ammunition, but no weapons in the home. Cannabis seeds and drug paraphernalia was found in a room the suspect had lived in, the report states. He was later arrested, but court records show the charges were eventually dropped.

The woman said what remains are her injuries and that's why she's suing the agency.

"My back hurts a lot now even just doing regular stuff," she said. "The very first year was very, very hard for me. I went to a very dark place."

According to the report, the woman refused medical treatment at the time, however she said she wasn't aware of her injuries until she was released and the SWAT team left.

The Sheriff's Office said it wouldn't comment on pending litigation.

WFTV