Woman Killed by Police Said They Would Have to 'Murder' Her

RANDALLSTOWN, MD — The young mother shot and killed by police after she barricaded herself in her Randallstown apartment was posting videos and comments about the standoff on social media before she died, while none of the police officers at the scene wore body cameras, authorities said.

Baltimore County Police went to Sulky Court in Randallstown about 9:40 a.m. Monday to serve arrest warrants forKorryn Gaines, 23, and her boyfriend, Kareem K. Courtney, 39. He was charged with second-degree assault by police as he tried to leave the apartment with a child before Gaines began her standoff.

The deadly confrontation ended around 3 p.m. when police say Gaines pointed a shotgun at a tactical officer and threatened to shoot him. There was an exchange of gunfire between an officer and Gaines, who fired two rounds from the shotgun, but did not strike police.

Her 5-year-old son, Kodi, was injured in the crossfire and is in good condition at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Police have not determined whether the boy was struck by a round from a police weapon or from Gaines' weapon.

Police had arrived at the apartment to serve Gaines with a "failure to appear" bench warrant stemming from charges filed in a March 10 traffic stop. Officer reportedly pulled her Toyota Camry over then because it had no license plate on it.

Instead, the vehicle displayed a piece of cardboard with this message: "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 to freedom."

Authorities say Gaines resisted arrest, threw the citations out her car window and told officers they would have to "murder" her before she got out of the vehicle. She had two children, an infant and her son, Kodi, in the vehicle with her.

Gaines posted video of a police officer in protective gear standing down the hall from her and her son as she asked the boy if he wanted to go out to police, to which he said no. Because Gaines was active in Facebook and Instagram as police were trying to negotiate her surrender, the department asked Facebook to temporarily suspend her accounts. Her followers were encouraging her not to comply with negotiators' requests that she surrender peacefully, authorities said.

A search warrant will be sought by police to preserve Gaines’ posted content as evidence.

Family members criticized police for not taking more time to resolve the situation.

Police should have "taken a different approach and use every tool available which is us. Use us. We can get through to her,” her cousin, Creo Brady, told WBAL. “We love her. We came up here to try to make this thing settle peacefully."

»Photo of Korryn Gaines, courtesy of Baltimore County Police