Five-year-old boy shot, woman killed after armed standoff with police in Maryland

Maryland police fatally shot an armed woman who threatened to kill officers during an hours-long standoff, and a 5-year-old boy was shot and wounded, authorities said.

The shooting of Korryn Gaines, 23, of Randallstown, Maryland, about 17 mores northwest of Baltimore, on Monday prompted outrage on social media, reigniting concerns about police use of force, especially against African-Americans.

Police identified the man in the incident as Kareem Courtney, 39. He was taken into custody on an assault charge then later released on his own recognizance. Both Gaines and Courtney are black, and police did not give details about the race of the officers who shot Gaines.

Gaines pointed a shotgun at officers when they arrived at her apartment to serve warrants on her and Courtney, Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson said at a news conference late on Monday. She faced traffic charges, including resisting arrest, and the man was wanted for assault.

The man fled with a 1-year-old boy and Gaines remained in the apartment with the 5-year-old boy. After a standoff of about five hours, Gaines again pointed a long gun at officers and threatened to kill them, Johnson said at the news conference, which streamed on the department's website.

An officer fired once, and Gaines shot twice. Officers returned fire and killed her, police said.

The boy was wounded and taken to a hospital with a non-life-threatening injury, police said. It is unknown who fired the round that hit the child, and the relationship between the adults and the children was not immediately known.

After the shooting, hash tags #KorrynGaines and #SayHerName trended heavily on Twitter. Multiple videos showing Gaines' encounter with the police also went viral.

One of the videos showed a officer inside her home. The exact dates of the videos were not immediately known.

(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington and by Angela Moon in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)