Police asked Facebook to suspend accounts during standoff

After a standoff of about five hours, an officer fired when Gaines pointed the gun at officers and threatened to kill them.

Gaines then refused to give police her license and registration, according to the report, saying they had no right to stop her. Police say she told them that if they wanted her to leave the auto, they would have to “murder” her, according to the report. “I don’t buy their story, ‘they don’t know if any police officer was wearing body cams, ‘” said one Twitter user. Facebook complied, he said.

After the officers gave Gaines a citation, she defiantly threw the paperwork out of the window and placed the child on her lap as a barrier between police and herself.

Upon arriving to serve the warrants, officers heard the voices of a male, female and children inside the apartment.

No one answered the door, the chief said in recounting events.

The officers meant to serve arrest warrants on Gaines and a man. Gaines was wanted on a bench warrant for failing to appear in court on charges related to previous cases of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest following a traffic stop in March “and numerous other traffic offences”, according to Johnson. Around 3 p.m., according to the Baltimore Sun, Gaines pointed the gun at officers and said, “If you don’t leave, I’m going to kill you”. Records show she bought the gun past year.

Tactical officers arrived and an hours-long negotiation began.

With a 1-year-old child in tow, Courtney left the apartment through the front door during the standoff and was apprehended, Johnson said.

Due to Gaines being armed, the apprehension became a barricade situation from around 9:40 am.

Before the unfortunate climax of the barricade, two videos have been uploaded-allegedly by Gaines.

A medical expert who evaluated Gaines wrote that she “had a history of problems with anger and impulsive behavior”, and visited her school counselor on several occasions. Police have not determined whether the boy was struck by a round from a police weapon or from Gaines’ weapon.

“When you put your hands on me, I promise you will have to murder me”, she said in one of the videos. Gaines returned fire with two shots, and the officers returned fire multiple times.

The 5-year-old boy was hit in the arm during the crossfire.

Gaines’s uncle said the five-year-old was her son, but police are yet to confirm this. They also said they could not say exactly where the boy was when shots were fired.

Police chief James Johnson told reporters: “We discharged one round at her”.

Court documents show that Gaines filed a lawsuit against a former landlord, alleging that she was lead poisoned. The department launched a body camera on July 2, but police involved in this shooting were not yet trained or issued cameras, said county police spokeswoman Elise Armacost. The cops were able to obtain a key to the apartment after some time.

Their names will be released around Thursday morning, as dictated by the Baltimore County Police Department’s contract with its union. Courtney soon came out of the house with a younger child and was arrested and later released on his own recognizance.

Her 1-year-old daughter was also in the vehicle, who starts crying, only for Gaines to tell her to stop.

She was originally pulled over for driving without a license plate. Gaines was accused of an array of misdemeanors, including disorderly conduct and failure to obey a reasonable and lawful order. Courtney was wanted for an assault charge against Gaines. “We know the child, as a 5-year-old would, was moving about”, Johnson said.

This is the county’s third shooting involving an officer in 2016, and the first fatal shooting involving an officer this year. During the standoff, Gaines posted videos and text messages to her Facebook page, declaring her son “is not a hostage” and urging her friends to stay away from her apartment complex.