OKLAHOMA CITY — Just before daybreak on May 1, 2025, Oklahoma City police officers raided the home of Tahira Carter and her family on Hill Street in northeast OKC. They were looking for a suspect in a recent shooting and had a search warrant, but the police had the wrong address and the wrong people.
“It was like a whole army was outside,” Carter told News 9. “Rude awakening. Traumatic experience for everybody. They were at the wrong house.”
Ring doorbell footage from Carter’s home captured part of the raid – police officers screaming commands and the moment her 9-year-old daughter walked toward armed officers responding to their commands.
“She still doesn’t sleep,” Carter told News 9.
Warrant listed Carter’s address—but not her name
Carter, who has lived in the same house for 19 years, told News 9 she and her family were forced out of their home, handcuffed and placed in police vehicles while officers conducted the search.
Even though the police had a search warrant, Carter said her name did not appear on it. “We sat out [there] for hours,” she said.
According to court records, officers were searching for individuals connected to an April shooting. Carter said one of the people named lived two houses down.
“I pointed to the house and said, ‘That’s where he lives,’” she told News 9.
Despite this, Carter said officers still searched her home and offered no explanation before leaving.
“He [the officer] said, ‘Your house is clear,’ and they just left,” she told News 9. “They didn’t even tell me bye. They didn’t say sorry. They just went on about their way.”
Wrong-door raids: A national pattern with deadly consequences
Mistaken police raids like the one at Carter’s home are a pattern across the country. In 2020, police killed Breonna Taylor in her Louisville apartment when officers executed a no-knock warrant at the wrong location. In 2019, Fort Worth police shot Atatiana Jefferson in her home during a welfare check gone wrong.
Incidents like these have forced national conversations about the consequences of militarized policing and flawed warrant execution, especially in Black communities.
According to local advocates, police have heavily surveilled areas in northeast Oklahoma City, where Carter lives, for some time. Black residents are overrepresented in police stops and arrests in the area. Studies from the ACLU show that mistaken raids disproportionately affect families of color.
“Far too many lives have been lost due to these hiccups – these mistakes,” Carter told News 9.
Ongoing review, no public answers
Carter said police never contacted her before the raid. She also said an officer claimed to have spoken with her in a prior interview, which she disputed.
“I was like, ‘No. No one talked to me at this house,’” she said.
As of now, Oklahoma City Police told News 9 they are reviewing the family’s home surveillance video that was posted to social media. The department has yet to release further details about how the wrong address was included on the warrant or whether any corrective measures will be taken.
“I would hope that they would do better,” Carter said. “When you take accountability for your mistakes – that’s the mature and adult thing to do.”