The family of 23-year-old Baltimore mother Korryn Gaines has filed a lawsuit against the police officer who fatally shot her following a standoff with law enforcement last month.
Although police reports say Gaines was armed and had threatened to open fire on officers before she was fatally shot, many feel the officers could have resolved the situation without it turning deadly.
In documents detailing the lawsuit, the family says Gaines’ neighbor bore witness to her confrontation with the police and gives a different account of what actually happened, according to CBS Baltimore.
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Most notably, the neighbor says he remembers hearing Gaines tell police that if they back up from the apartment and put down their weapons, she would come out form the apartment as instructed — a stark contrast to police claims that Gaines threatened to shoot officers if they didn’t leave the premises.
The Gaines family has also said that they believe Korryn was targeted by Baltimore police because of her outspoken stance on police brutality, as depicted on her personal Facebook page.
The Baltimore police department was at the center of backlash from the public after it was revealed that they’d contacted Facebook to have video footage of the events leading up to fatal encounter removed from her page shortly after she was killed.
The family is suing Baltimore County and Police Officer First Class Ruby for $2 million each in a wrongful death suit filed earlier this month.