Gaines was shot after a almost seven-hour standoff that saw her take her own five-year-old son hostage and use him as a human shield against police officers as she repeatedly pointed a shotgun towards police, finally prompting an exchange of gunfire that saw her killed and her son wounded.
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Baltimore County Police initially went to Korryn Gaines’ apartment to arrest her after she failed to appear in court.
“At that time the phone went dead”, she said.
Atlanta Black Star reported that the young woman recorded an Instagram video of her talking to her 5-year-old son during the standoff.
Videos posted on Facebook and Instagram appeared to show Gaines, who was black, talking with police in the doorway to her apartment and to her son during the standoff. Gaines responded by firing a shot, re-racking the shotgun’s slide, and firing again.
Police on Tuesday provided additional details about the shooting and the events leading up to it.
Gains had numerous warrants including resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and numerous traffic infractions for a traffic stop in March that she recorded.
Police knocked on the door at 9:20 a.m. Monday and announced themselves. They tried to open the door, but it was secured by a chain.
On Aug. 1, Gaines was engaged in a multi-hour standoff with Baltimore police over arrest warrants for minor citations. He left the apartment with a 1-year-old boy before the standoff and was arrested. He was later released that same day on his own recognizance.
Dormeus said she arrived at the scene later but wasn’t allowed to speak to Gaines during the negotiations, which she felt would have helped calm her daughter and might have ended the situation peacefully.
“I do feel like they didn’t want to hurt her”, Dormeus said. They threw me a charge too late, got my “Big Girl” September of past year. How, many people asked, can people rush to defend a woman who endangered her child by threatening police with a weapon when a child was in the home? He did not say whether Gaines had threatened her son.
The officers will be placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in officer-involved shootings, according to police.
Gaines’ Facebook page is now reactivated; it does not have any videos visible to the public.
The incident has ignited a firestorm of criticism and speculation on social media, much of it aimed at the police, who were not wearing body cameras-despite the city’s launch of a body camera program a month ago-as well as at Facebook, for acquiescing to the deactivation request, which removed the possibility of Gaines’s final moments being captured on video.
Chief Jim Johnson said Facebook agreed to suspend Gaines’ social media accounts at their request while negotiations were taking place, according to the Associated Press. Johnson says Gaines immediately began wielding a 12-gauge shotgun around, bringing it into the ready position and directing at the officers. He said investigators are in the process of obtaining search warrants for the videos.
Police do not have the authority to directly deactivate a social media account, Johnson and the spokeswoman both said. The department has been training and equipping about 10 officers per week. They also released a copy of the domestic-violence report involving Courtney. She was apparently recording the incident as it unfolded, posting the footage to Facebook and Instagram. An officer fired and missed. “So go ahead and get ready to do that. I’m going to kill you”, Johnson quoted Gaines as saying.
“Any government official who compromises this pursuit to happiness and right to travel, will be held criminally responsible and fined, as this is a natural right and freedom.”
“You see what they do to us, right?”
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“They’re trying to kill us, ‘ he replies”.
