(BuzzFeed) – Surrounded by expensive homes and a lush green park, the pool in Craig Ranch, McKinney, has long functioned as a focal point for its community. Residents call the Dallas-area city an idyllic Texan town, and streets in the planned estate are referred to as “trails,” with names like Lonesome Spur, White Stallion, and Desert Dunes conjuring up images of the Old West. On hot summer days, parents and kids stroll from nearby designer brick homes to relax and cool off in the pool, which residents need a card to use. Sometimes the pool hosts movie nights, handing out popcorn as swimmers watch films on a large inflatable screen.
“I love our neighborhood,” Craig Ranch resident Shannon Barber Toon, who has lived in McKinney for four years, told BuzzFeed News. “I love that I can walk my kids to the pool. We have friends of all races. You can always come out and find people to talk to.”
Barber Toon went to the pool Friday night with her husband, Sean Toon, their two children, and her two female friends. Later that evening, though, the pool would become the latest flash point for America’s ongoing debate over race relations and police brutality. Sean Toon has claimed in multiple media interviews that the media has misrepresented the events, but Toon himself has failed to tell the full story.