The Grand Rapids Police Department has opened an internal investigation after officers held an 11-year-old girl at gunpoint, handcuffed her and put her in the back of a cruiser during a search for a stabbing suspect last week.
The incident happened Wednesday as the girl, Honestie Hodges, was leaving her home to go to a store.
Police say they were at the home looking for the girl’s 40-year-old aunt, who had allegedly stabbed a relative nearby.
Grand Rapids police also detained two other women who exited the house with the girl.
The girl says the incident has left her scared.
“I’m afraid to open or go near my back door,” Hodges said. “It made me feel scared and it made me feel like I did something wrong.”
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Hodges said. “I didn’t do anything wrong, I’ve never got in trouble by the police.
“I used to want to be a Grand Rapids police officer, but ever since that happened, I want nothing to do with them.”