It is also pertinent to be mentioned here that police had raided the apartment after the 23-year-old woman, Korryn Gaines, failed to appear in court over several traffic charges against her.
Advertisement
The Independent reports that police officers shot Gaines, who is Black, and her 5-year-old son after she allegedly threatened them with a shotgun. Her five-year-old son was with her throughout the negotiations, and the boy was wounded in the arm during an exchange of gunfire between police and Gaines, authorities said.
The child recieved a non-life-threatening injury and is being treated at a local hospital.
Gaines was posting video of the operation as some of her followers urged her not to follow police orders, Johnson said.
In the midst of a five-hour standoff that turned deadly, Facebook granted an emergency request from the Baltimore County Police Department to take offline the social media accounts belonging to a woman who wielded a shotgun at officers.
Although the death of a mother is particularly tragic, Gaines should have known that nothing good could have come from pointing a gun at a police officer, declaring that she was going to shoot someone, and putting her child in harm’s way.
With a 1-year-old child in tow, Courtney left the apartment through the front door during the standoff and was apprehended, Johnson said.
Back in March, Gaines was stopped after her Toyota Camry was seen with a rectangular cardboard instead of a license plate. The police opened fired, wounding and killing her.
In the heartbreaking footage she repeatedly asks her little boy if he knows what it going on.
“When somebody points a gun directly at an officer and threatens to shoot them, it very well may not end well”. Gaines returned fire with two shots, and the officers returned fire multiple times.
The man was wanted for assault, while Korryn Shandawn Gaines was wanted for failing to appear in court to face “an array of traffic charges”, the Baltimore Police revealed.
An officer told her she would be towed, but refused to get out of her vehicle. Two videos on her Instagram account, one showing her loading a shotgun well before the barricade situation, another showing an officer stationed outside her door during the barricade, were deleted and have yet to be restored. Trained negotiators, mental health counselors and Gaines’s father were all summoned to talk her out of the apartment. Authorities fired their weapons again, fatally striking her.
Gaines then refused to give police her license and registration, according to the report, saying they had no right to stop her. Police say she told them that if they wanted her to leave the vehicle, they would have to “murder” her, according to the report.
It is unclear, police say, whether the child was struck by Gaines or police.
Johnson and Armacost also spoke about questions circling regarding Gaines’ Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Police said they don’t know whether the boy was shot by officers or by his mother.
Police said she had to be pulled from the auto.
Johnson said that none of the police in “direct conflict” with Gaines were outfitted with body cameras. Only about 40 of the department’s officers have been trained on the cameras.
Advertisement
Armacost said police were working with Gaines’ father and mental health professionals, along with trained negotiators, throughout the day.
