Baltimore County Police Fatally Shoot 23yo Woman

[donquixote99]

Jury awards total of 37 Million in wrongful death suit.

My question all along has been what led police to press attempts to forcibly arrest Korry Gates, and was doing so, among other things, reckless endangerment of her then-five-year-old son, a thing they had a duty to take extraordinary care not to do?

This story in the NY Daily News includes this summary of a defense statement from the trial:

He told jurors two officers had tried to serve arrest warrants on Gaines and her fiance that day. When no one would open the apartment door, officers eventually kicked it in, jurors heard. He said the first officer who entered the apartment was "confronted with Korryn Gaines with a shotgun pointed right at him."

I have questions:

Was forcible entry to serve their warrant justified and legal?

The implication is that the 'shotgun point right at him' as he broke through the door justifies the shooting. Elided is the fact that the officers initially retreated without shots fired by anyone, and the shooting came hours later. So what justified the final ultimate shooting?

The jury also apparently had big questions, and rejected the defense's claim of justification.