Korryn Gaines, 23, fatally shot by police with child in lap
Quote:
Before she was killed and her 5-year-old son injured in a shootout with Baltimore County police, Korryn Gaines was live-streaming the standoff to the Internet. Her social-media followers, police said, were encouraging her not to give in.
She did not. After [allegedly] repeatedly pointing a shotgun at officers standing in the hallway of her Randallstown home Monday over hours of negotiation, police said, Gaines told them to retreat or die.
“If you don’t leave, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to kill you,” she said at about 3 p.m., according to Baltimore County Police Chief James W. Johnson at a news conference Tuesday.
Police said they fired a shot, and Gaines responded with a barrage of gunfire. They shot three more times. Gaines was killed. Her son, hit by a bullet or shrapnel, is still in the hospital.
Amid the negotiations, police authorities successfully petitioned Facebook to disable the 23-year-old’s accounts, which took about an hour to take effect.
Police did not record the negotiations. The department launched a body camera program in July, but police involved in this shooting had not been trained or issued cameras, said county police spokeswoman Elise Armacost. Since the program launched, only about 40 officers out of the 1,900-member force have been outfitted with the devices, she said.
Why were the police there in the first place?
Why did she engage in a standoff?
Why did she think it was a good idea to threaten to kill them?
Why was her child in the hallway during the shootout?
Sorry, but if you refuse to let police enter your house to arrest you, had a shotgun right next to your baby, pointed that weapon at police then what did you expect? It's literally suicide by cop at that point.
Three officers with the Baltimore County police arrived at Korryn Gaines’s apartment around 9:20 a.m. on Monday to serve warrants to her as well as a man who also resided there.
The man was wanted on an assault charge, while Gaines, 23, had an arrest warrant for failing to appear in court after a traffic violation in March.
According to police, no one responded to 10 minutes of door knocking, even though they could hear several people inside. When officers obtained a key to the apartment, they found Gaines sitting on the floor — her 5-year-old son was wrapped in one of her arms. In her other hand was a shotgun.
Around 3 p.m., after several hours of negotiation, police say Gaines raised the gun at officers and told them that she would kill them if they did not leave. The officers opened fire.
“Perceiving not only her actions, but the words she used, we discharged one round at her, in turn she fired several rounds back at us,” Police Chief Jim Johnson said during a news conference on Monday night. “We fired again at her, striking and killing her. Tragically in this circumstance, the child that was also in the dwelling was struck by a round.”
The man being sought fled the home with a 1-year-old child, but was later taken into custody, police said.
According to Johnson, it is unclear if there is any body camera footage of the incident (the department’s body camera program is just several weeks old).
Why were the police there in the first place?
Why did she engage in a standoff?
Why did she think it was a good idea to threaten to kill them?
Why was her child in the hallway during the shootout?
She had a warrant out for her arrest.
What do you mean? Yes, but this doesn't mean she necessarily had any weapon.
Who knows if she even did that? You know, since they allegedly didn't have body cameras to record the event. Sp
Because they were in their home? Her son in the video is literally sitting there playing with Play-Doh.. She was a mother of two children, a boy and a girl.
Why do people automatically assume anything that comes out of police officer's mouths as if they don't lie all the time? It doesn't matter how long she was refusing arrest- if she didn't threaten them AND have a weapon on her person, they did not have the right to shoot her. Too bad the truth will never be known because Korryn is dead and the officers conveniently did not have their body cameras yet.
And regardless, they did not have to kill her
