A Baltimore woman was fatally shot Baltimore County police while holding her son, who was also shot, in her apartment after she allegedly pointed a “long gun” at the officers and threatened to kill them during the hours-long standoff.
The officers were attempting to execute an arrest warrant on Korryn Gaines and a man who also lived at the home in Randallstown, Md., just outside of Baltimore, on warrants for assault, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and numerous other traffic charges.
The five-year-old boy was shot in a limb, but the Baltimore Sun reports that he is expected to survive his injuries.
Baltimore County Police would not confirm whether the child was struck by a bullet fired by his 23-year-old mother or police.
According to the Sun, police knocked on the door several times but no one answered. However, the officers reportedly heard a man and a woman’s voice andd the baby crying. After the officers got the manager of the complex to give them a key, the officers opened the door and saw the mother sitting on the floor with her baby in her arms and holding “a long gun.” She reportedly threatened to kill the officers, so they called a tactical unit to come in and negotiate her surrender during the hours-long standoff.
The unidentified man was wanted for assault. He reportedly tried to flee the apartment with a 1-year-old child but was quickly caught by officers. Meanwhile, Gaines had had failed to appear in court over several traffic charges, including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after being stopped by police last March.
The standoff began in the morning around 9:30 a.m. By 3 p.m., the woman reportedly pointed a gun at the officers and said she was going to kill them if they didn’t leave.
An officer reportedly then fired at Gaines, who also allegedly returned fire with her own gun. When the officer returned fire again, he struck and killed Gaines and hit the 5-year-old “in a limb.”
Tributes were being paid to Ms Gaines on Tuesday, with her death being condemned by friends, relatives and supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
There was also suspicion over the reported deletion of Facebook videos posted by Ms Gaines during the stand-off and other social media posts.