The police shooting that left a 16-year-old boy dead in January targeted the apparent victim as he fled from another teen who had opened fire on him moments earlier, authorities said Friday.
San Diego Police Officer Daniel Gold had arrived in the area on an unrelated call when a fellow patrolman reported hearing shots at Santa Fe Depot on Kettner Boulevard at 8:51 p.m. Jan. 28, according to the San Diego Police Department.
The boy was shot moments later. Though a handgun was found on the dying teen as officers attempted to resuscitate him, there are no indications that he fired it during the confrontation with the other youth, investigators said.
The boy, whose name has not been released, also was not holding it when he and Gold crossed paths just before the shooting.
San Diego police on Friday released edited footage of the incidents, culled from surveillance video and Gold’s body-worn camera, as part of the investigation by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office.
The entire incident appears to have unfolded over the course of approximately 10 seconds, from the moment that the suspect draws a gun on the victim, as captured on footage from the platform at the downtown depot, to the one when the teen, fleeing for safety, nearly runs into Gold and is shot.
The depot’s surveillance camera captured images of the dead boy, with another person, strolling onto the platform at almost exactly 8:51 p.m.
They part ways and the boy heads north, where a pair of other youths are standing. The teen approaches and as he appears to reach for his backpack, one of the youths suddenly pulls a gun and fires at least two shots.
The victim, uninjured, turned and fled, heading back to the open-air corridor that leads to Kettner. The suspect ran north with his companion. About four seconds elapsed from the time the shots rang out, according to the time stamp on the video.
As the police call sounded over the radio – “I got shots fired. Again, I got shots fired over at … Santa Fe Depot” – Gold was moving north toward the walkway with his uniform-worn camera activated. He’s walking calmly and scrolling through a cell phone.
Then, gun drawn, the officer starts to hurry toward the corridor, at 30 seconds after 8:51, according to the time stamp on the police footage.
As Gold reaches it, six seconds later, the teen emerges directly in front of him on the sidewalk, and is immediately shot at close range. The boy cries out as the officer identifies himself as “San Diego police” after the shot was fired.
The boy continued running into the street before collapsing. Officers began performing CPR, finding a handgun concealed under his clothing near his right thigh, according to police.
Paramedics took the teenager to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
The Sheriff’s office investigates uses of lethal force on the part of SDPD personnel under terms of a 2022 regional agreement and the District Attorney’s Office will decide whether Gold should face charges.
On Feb. 6, police arrested a suspect, another teen, aged 16, in connection with the gunfire that preceded the fatal shooting, according to the SDPD.
His name has been withheld because he is a minor.
City News Service contributed to this report.
