Police: Armed Woman Killed In Shootout With Police; 5-Year-Old Injured
RANDALLSTOWN, Md. (WJZ) — After an armed woman was killed by police in a shootout that also left her 5-year-old son injured in Randallstown on Monday, the Baltimore County Police Department is continuing an investigation into the incident.
Police say they responded to a home in the unit block of Sulky Court on Monday around 9:20 a.m. to serve arrest warrants for 23-year-old Korryn Shandawn Gaines and her boyfriend 39-year-old Kareem Kiean Courtney.
The arrest warrant for Gaines stemmed from a traffic stop that occurred back in March when she was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. Police were also serving an arrest warrant for Courtney on second degree assault charges.
Upon arrival to the home, police say three officers knocked on the door of the residence but no one answered. Minutes later, after overhearing the voices of a man and woman and a child's cries coming from inside, officers opened the door using a key obtained from the landlord.
During a new conference on Tuesday, Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson said officers could see a woman sitting on the floor believed to be Gaines along with a child nearby. Johnson says Gaines immediately began wielding a 12-gauge shotgun around, bringing it into the ready position and directing at the officers.
Three officers then retreated to the hallway outside and called for backup, according to police.
Johnson says tactical teams surrounded the home and negotiations began with Gaines around 9:40 a.m.
Minutes later, 39-year-old Kareem Courtney ran out of the home with a 1-year-old boy and was immediately apprehended. He was arrested on a warrant for second degree assault and was later released.
"There were times that we thought this would come to a peaceful resolution, there were other times she was highly agitated," said Johnson. "The entire time throughout the afternoon she would repeatedly point the weapon at our personnel."
During the 7-hour stand-off, police say Gaines used social media to broadcast the ongoing situation.
Police, who eventually were able to deactivate her accounts by contacting Facebook, say social media followers were encouraging Gaines not to comply with requests that she surrender peacefully.
"We did reach out to social media authorities to deactivate her account to take it offline in order to preserve the integrity of the negotiation process with her and the safety of our personal her child."
Police say Gaines' social media content has not been deleted, adding that they don't have the authority to do such a thing.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Video posted on social media by Korryn Gaines shows tense moments during a standoff with police. Video showing the shotgun was not filmed during the standoff]
Gaines's cousin, Creo Brady tells WJZ he wishes his family could have played a bigger role in preventing Monday's tragedy.
"We were all there," he says. "Any one of us could have went int here, talked her down, got that gun from her and she would still be here with us."
As hours went by police continued their negotiations with Gaines.
"Negotiators conversed with Gaines by phone and face to face (mostly by shouting across the room). They encouraged her to stay on the phone throughout the event," according to a news release.
At approximately 4 p.m., officers again attempted to negotiate with Gaines — who was still with her 5-year-old son -- into surrendering, but police say she refused and pointed the gun at officers multiple times, even threatening to kill them saying, ""If you don't leave, I'm going to kill you."
Johnson says it was at this point that a tactical officer discharged one round toward Gaines, but police do not know if she was struck.
Gaines then returned fire, but no officers were struck.
Officers then fired back resulting in her death.
"Our officer returned three rounds of fire, striking her and killing her," said Johnson.
When officers went to render aid to Gaines, they noticed that the 5-year-old boy was also struck.
"We do not know at this moment in time if the child was struck by our round, her round, or shrapnel from our round, shrapnel from her round, we do not know at this moment in time," said Johnson.
Police say no officers involved in direct contact with Gaines were wearing body cameras at the time of the incident.
The county's body camera program -- which eventually will equip more than 1,400 officers with cameras -- was launched only about a month ago.
In charging documents obtained by WJZ, police say Gaines was pulled over on March 10, 2016 when officers noticed she had a rectangle piece of cardboard where her license place should be.
The rear piece of cardboard read, "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."
A piece of cardboard that was placed in front of the car read "free traveler".
Police recount an uncooperative experience with Gaines while her two kids were in the car.
In the charging document, officers say Gaines advised the officer that she did not have the right to pull her over and that officers would have to "murder her" to get her out of the vehicle.
After further investigation, the officers determined that Gaines was the owner of the vehicle, but there were no tags listed for the vehicle.
Police say they also could not find any insurance information for Gaines, but she advised that she might "have an old insurance card".
With her kids in the car, police say Gaines still refused to get out of the vehicle, even moments before being towed.
Gaines was later placed under arrest after putting up a fight, while screaming to her son to "fight and bite the officer" who was holding him.
Gaines was charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
WJZ has learned that the 5-year-old child injured in Monday's shooting suffered a broken arm during the shootout.
He remains hospitalized, but is in good condition.
A spokesperson for the Baltimore County Police Department says health professionals were also used during the barricade situation.
Follow @CBSBaltimore on Twitter and like WJZ-TV | CBS Baltimore on Facebook
