Korryn Gaines

Baltimore County police arrived at the Randallstown, Maryland apartment of Ms. Gaines to serve a warrant alleging that she had failed to appear in court for a traffic stop (no current license plate, resisting arrest) offense. Ms. Gaines, who had miscarried twins as a consequence of improper treatment while being held in connection with a traffic stop, had received paperwork for the stop that did not provide the date on which she was expected to appear. A month prior to the day officers descended on her home, Gaines had visited the police station seeking clarification about her court date, only to be told that the officer who had issued the paperwork was unavailable. When Ms. Gaines noticed police attempting to force entry that day in August, she sat down in her living room with a legally owned firearm, and a 6-hour standoff ensued. Ms. Gaines had a sizable online following via her activism and poetry, and narrated the sequence in real time on Facebook Live until the social media portal shut her page down per police request. No police body cam or video was used during the standoff. During the standoff, Ms. Gaines relocated to her kitchen, at which point an officer fired at Ms. Gaines from outside her apartment. The officer then entered the apartment and shot Gaines three more times. One of the bullets passed through Ms. Gaines and wounded her young son, who survived. Critics have focused on her possible mental impairment, her gun ownership, and her ideology (anti government) as reasons to explain the vulnerabilities contributing to her killing. At the time of her death, Ms. Gaines was the 9th female to be killed by police - 8 of them were armed at the time of their death.