Baltimore police shot and killed a black woman, and a child was caught in the crossfire

A woman in Baltimore was shot and killed by police in the midst of a standoff on Monday that lasted nearly seven hours. Baltimore County police say the woman pointed a gun at officers while holding a five-year-old boy believed to be her son.

The child was also shot during the altercation, though police haven't said whether an officer or the woman, 23-year-old Korryn Gaines, shot the child, who is expected to survive the injury.

Gaines' uncle, Jermaine Barnett, told the Baltimore Sun the child was her son, though this has not yet been confirmed. Police have not yet announced where the child was in the house at the time of the shooting.

A uniformed officer, and several warrant squad members, came to the house just after 9 a.m. that morning to serve arrest warrants to Gaines and a man who also lived in the home, according to police chief Jim Johnson.

The warrant squad came to serve Gaines because she had been charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and several traffic violations, and then failed to appear in court, according to Johnson.

Johnson explained that the man in the home, who was wanted for assault, fled the scene on foot with a one-year-old child when the officers approached the front door, but they quickly apprehended him.

Gaines, meanwhile, sat on the floor near the entrance to the home, with a long gun and the child in her arms. Officers got a key to the home from the landlord, and upon opening the door she pointed the gun at one of the three officers attempting to enter.

At this point the officers called in backup to negotiate with Gaines, after which she pointed her gun at the officers several times.

At 3 p.m. Gaines pointed her gun at officers once more, and told them she would kill them if they didn't leave the home, Johnson explained. Gunfire then erupted, and an officer shot at Gaines. She reportedly fired several rounds back, and then the officers shot at her again, killing her.

It is not yet known if the officers involved in the incident, who avoided being shot, were wearing body cameras, as the department began making some, but not all, officers wear the technology last month. They have been placed on paid administrative leave.

Barnett, who described Gaines as "beautiful" and an "intellectual," said "I'm in a surreal state of mind right now," adding, "she was loved by everybody — I'm going to miss her and I love her."

Last week, prosecutors dropped all remaining charges against three Baltimore police officers awaiting trial in the death of Freddie Gray, who died in April 2015 after he was arrested by Baltimore police officers, and his neck was broken in the back of a police van.

Follow Davide Mastracci on Twitter: @DavideMastracci