Woman Dead, Child Injured After Armed Standoff With Police
BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- A Baltimore County woman armed with a shotgun was fatally shot by officers following a nearly seven-hour long standoff at a Randallstown apartment complex on Monday and a 5-year-old boy with her was hospitalized with a gunshot wound, authorities said.
Paramedics rushed the child to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries to the extremities, according to Baltimore County Police. It's not yet clear whether the child was shot by police or Gaines.
"We discharged one round at her," Police Chief James Johnson told reporters at an evening news conference. "In return, she fired several rounds back at us. We fired again at her, striking and killing her."
Police said the woman, identified as 23-year-old Korryn Shandawn Gaines, repeatedly threatened to kill officers during the standoff, which was sparked when police went to the apartment complex to serve Gaines and a man with arrest warrants about 9:20 a.m.
When three officers knocked on the door of the apartment, located in the unit block of Sulky Court, no one answered, police said in a news release. Minutes later, after overhearing the voices of a man and woman and a child's cries coming from inside, they opened the door using a key obtained from the landlord.
That's when an officer noticed Gaines sitting on the floor with a gun pointed at him and all three officers retreated to the hallway outside, and then called for backup, according to police.
"Upon opening the door slightly, the officers could clearly see a female seated on the floor that they recognized to be the female wanted on the arrest warrant," Johnson said.
Police said the male suspect, who was wanted for assault, was captured after trying to make a run for it with a 1-year-old boy, one of two children who had been inside. Gaines remained inside with the 5-year-old child as police evacuated neighboring apartments.
During the standoff, officers tried coaxing Gaines into surrendering, but she refused and instead pointed the gun at officers multiple times, police said. Negotiations broke down about 3 p.m. when Gaines allegedly pointed the gun directly at an officer and warned him, "If you don't leave, I'm going to kill you."
At some point, one of the officers opened fire, according to police. Gaines, who returned fire with two shots, was struck multiple times and pronounced dead at the scene.
None of the officers was shot.
The officers involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is routine for all police-involved shootings, amid an ongoing investigation. Their names have not yet been released.
Police said it's not yet clear whether any of the officers was wearing a body camera.
Gaines had been wanted on a bench warrant for "failure to appear," a citation issued after she skipped a court date for a list of misdemeanor charges -- including disorderly conduct and resisting arrest -- related to a traffic stop last March, police said.
We will provide further information as it becomes available.