The parents of a 16-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a San Diego police officer in January near Santa Fe Depot have sued the city and the officer who killed him, claiming the cop fired just one second after the teen sprinted around a corner while fleeing from another person who shot at him on the trolley platform.
Konoa Wilson’s parents allege Officer Daniel Gold II opened fire on their son “instantly, without any warning,” in violation of Wilson’s civil rights, as well as state law and San Diego police use-of-force standards.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in San Diego Superior Court, alleges Gold and his employer are legally liable for Wilson’s death and that they violated Wilson’s rights under the Fourth and 14th Amendments, “including the right to be free from unreasonable seizures and the use of excessive force, and the right not to be deprived of life or liberty without due process of law.”
San Diego police Lt. Travis Easter said Tuesday the Police Department could not comment on pending litigation. He said the shooting remains under investigation, and Gold remains employed with the department, though he’s not working in the field while the investigation continues. Authorities said Gold had been a San Diego police officer for two years at the time of the shooting.
Attorneys for Wilson’s parents did not respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday. Their lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive damages.
The shooting occurred around 8:50 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Metropolitan Transit District’s Santa Fe Depot station in downtown San Diego. Video released by police in February included security camera footage of the initial shooting on the trolley platform and Gold’s body-worn camera footage, showing he opened fire about one second after Wilson ran out of a walkway toward Kettner Boulevard.
In the video released by police, Wilson was seen arriving at the trolley platform and then appearing to speak to two people already on the platform when one of them pulled out a gun and fired two shots toward Wilson. Police have said the shooter was also a 16-year-old boy they arrested Feb. 6.
The video showed the gunman and his companion running north along the trolley tracks while Wilson sprinted the opposite direction and back through the corridor toward Kettner Boulevard. Gold, who had arrived in the area about 30 seconds earlier while responding to an apparently unrelated assault call, was jogging toward the corridor when Wilson emerged.
Wilson’s parents allege Gold immediately fired two shots, striking the teen “in the right side of his torso/back area,” according to the lawsuit. “Only after shooting (Wilson) and watching him fall to the ground did Defendant Gold finally announce ‘San Diego Police.’”
Wilson shouted in apparent pain before collapsing onto Kettner Boulevard, according to the lawsuit and footage of the shooting. Medics took him to UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest, where doctors pronounced him dead just before 9:30 p.m.
Police said that Wilson had a firearm concealed underneath his clothing that officers discovered while performing emergency medical aid.
“At no point during these events did (Wilson) brandish a weapon nor did he present a threat to the physical safety or well-being of Defendant Gold or any other person,” the lawsuit alleges. “(Wilson) was simply running away from an unknown person who was shooting in his direction while he was on the train platform.”
The video released by police indicated that Gold was walking along Kettner responding to the other assault call when the trolley platform shooting occurred, and another officer announced over a police radio, “I got shots fired over at Santa Fe Depot.” Footage from Gold’s body-worn camera shows Wilson holding his cellphone in his left hand as he sprints out of the walkway that Gold is heading toward.
“Whoa,” Gold yelled as he quickly pulled out his gun and fired, according to the video. Wilson doubled over and screamed before falling out of the camera’s view behind a police SUV, at which point Gold announced, “San Diego Police.”
There is no indication in the video that Gold had been told any details about the platform shooting, including which directions the shooter and potential victim ran, what they looked like or how many potential victims or bystanders might be fleeing.
