(Reuters) - No charges will be filed against a Maryland police officer who fatally shot an armed black woman during a standoff that she live-streamed over the internet, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.
The officer was justified in shooting Korryn Gaines, 23, and no criminal charges are warranted, Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said in a statement.
"The state will take no further action in this case," he said.
Gaines died on Aug. 1 after an hours-long standoff that began when officers tried to serve arrest warrants on her and her fiance. He fled the couple's apartment with his infant daughter and told officers Gaines was mentally ill and had stopped taking her medications.
Gaines, who was wanted for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest during a traffic stop, stayed in the apartment with her 5-year-old son and refused to come out. She live-streamed video and took phone calls from family and friends.
Gaines told police that when she and her son were dead "it would be worth it as she took at least one of the officers with her," Shellenberger said in a report on the shooting.
When she raised a shotgun toward officers, one of them opened fire. Gaines was killed in an exchange of fire and her son was struck in a cheek by a bullet, the report said.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
