Baltimore Police Chief James Johnson says the department made the request because “followers were encouraging her not to comply with negotiators’ request that she surrender peacefully”, and police were about the safety of her 5-year-old son and officers, reports the Guardian.
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A medical expert who evaluated Gaines wrote that she had a history of problems with anger and impulsive behavior, and visited her school counselor on several occasions.
A second video, now deleted, showed a police officer with a gun drawn at Gaines’ door. “She didn’t fire until they fired on her”, another aunt, Shannon Gaines, added. Her son was wounded by a gunshot and taken to the hospital, but was expected to survive.
According to police, no one responded to 10 minutes of door knocking, even though they could hear several people inside.
Police on Tuesday provided additional details about the shooting and the events leading up to it.
On Monday, police officers arrived at Gaines home to serve arrest warrants warrants to Gaines and an unidentified man who also lived there. One officer feared for his life and fired two shots. Previous reports claimed the police didn’t break into the home, but Kodi recalls officers kicking the front door open.
In Thursday’s statement, police said investigators were trying to determine whether the boy was struck by a round or shrapnel from the officer’s weapon or Gaines’ Mossberg shotgun. The police chief said county police based their de-activation request on the fact that there was a barricade involving someone with a gun, and that a child was present. The officers allegedly moved out of the apartment into the hallway of the building and called for backup; after they showed up in tactical gear, Courtney ran out with the younger child and police apprehended him. “If they truly felt like something was wrong with her, then address her accordingly”, aunt Dawn McGee said.
I wonder if [Gaines] marks this tipping point where people are just going to automatically assume that when police approach them, they’re in a life-and-death situation.
That video, which was posted to her Instagram, was removed without explanation, but we downloaded it before it was removed, including it in one of the videos below.
The officers’ names have not been released. Facebook took down her profile on that social media site, and also deactivated her Instagram account.
“Followers were encouraging her not to comply with negotiators’ request that she surrender peacefully”, Chief Johnson said Tuesday, explaining that the request was meant to “preserve the integrity of the negotiation process” and the safety of everyone involved. She said they would have to murder her to get her out of her auto, according to court documents.
The incident marked a turn in the role played by social media in fatal police shootings.
Police can make the request to Facebook, which also owns Instagram, during exigent circumstances to deactivate accounts, he said. “Only deactivated”, he said.
She posted a video of part of the standoff to Instagram.
Baltimore County Police Department’s standard procedure is to release the names of officers involved in shootings about 48 hours after the incident, complying with terms of an agreement with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4, which specifies the delay to give officers and their families time to cope with the situation.
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The county’s body camera program – which eventually will equip more than 1,400 officers with cameras – was launched only about a month ago. The officers smartly withdrew, SWAT officers took their place, and negotiators tried to talk Gaines out until 3 p.m.
