Baltimore County Police Fatally Shoot 23yo Woman
 

I don't know what to think about this one. You'd think that the police could have found another way to deal with this, seeing as the woman had the child on her lap. That child was also shot, Fortunately, he's expected to survive.

Baltimore County surrounds the city of Baltimore but is a separate jurisdiction. Randallstown is a close-in middle class suburb. I lived there in the late '70s and my then girlfriend lived in the apartment complex where this shooting occurred and is a nurse at the hospital where he was taken.

https://www.rt.com/usa/354330-baltim...korryn-gaines/

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/mar...801-story.html

Kid could be dead now, due to pushing it to a gunfight. Why push? What's the hurry?

I'm not sure what else they could do.

She pointed a gun at them and said she was going to kill them.

Thankfully, the child will recover physically.

The RT and Sun links say that the police fired first. She returned fire and then all hell broke loose. So once again, the cops escalated the situation instead of trying to defuse it. I can't help making a comparison with the Bundy Ranch and Malheur.

Withdraw to protected positions and continue to negotiate. Every alternative to lethal force should have been tried first. She wasn't holding her son hostage so he was in no danger other than the very real danger that the police represented.

Someone points a gun at you, says they are going to kill you, and you say, "Excuse me, give me a minute to "withdraw to a protected position."

Somehow I doubt it.

Just my opinion.

I agree that lethal force should be the last option.

I hadn't thought about the option to withdraw to a protected position.

However, not having been there... It would be hard for me to determine if withdrawing would have been a viable option at the time.


As for her son..... Considering what I've heard about the adults in the situation and the fact that there was a loaded gun in his presence.... I figure he was already in a dangerous situation before the police ever got there.

Yes, they must have "feared for their safety" so lethal force was on.

Logically, these cops would have feared for their safety from the minute they were told to respond to this call. As long as that is sufficient legal justification for the use of deadly force, cops will be able to kill with impunity.

Back it up at least a couple of steps. Did they have to be where she could point a gun at them? Did they have to say whatever they said before she pointed the gun?

Maybe they did, I don't know the answers. Had she threatened to harm the child?

You point a gun at police while they're there to serve a warrant and you get shot. So be it. Darwin's law.