SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego County prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges against a San Diego police officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old boy at the Santa Fe Depot train station last year, a killing that led the city council to approve paying a $30 million settlement to the boy's family.
The Jan. 28, 2025, shooting arose after the boy was shot at by another juvenile. Konoa then fled the gunfire and encountered San Diego Police Officer Daniel Gold in the process.
In trolley station surveillance footage released by the police department, the boy can be seen running down a corridor leading out of the station and emerging on Kettner Boulevard just as Gold was running toward the same corridor in response to the gunshots.
Body-worn camera footage shows the officer immediately firing on the teen at close range. After he was shot, the boy is seen on the video screaming and running briefly before collapsing.
He was pronounced dead at a hospital less than an hour later.
In its analysis of the shooting, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office found that after hearing the initial gunshots and a "shots fired" call from his law enforcement partner, Gold believed his partner had been involved in the shooting and that Konoa was a suspect.
The review states Gold "inaccurately, but not unreasonably, believed his partner was involved in a shooting'' and that when Konoa emerged from the corridor, the boy had his hand at his waist.
The review also contains a description of Gold's statements to investigators, in which he said "He feared for his life and believed (Konoa) had just murdered (his partner).'' He also stated that he believed Konoa was reaching for a gun when his hand was at his waist.
"Gold explained his belief that most people who are victims or witnesses to gunfire often put their hands up and signal to officers where the shooting or the threat is,'' the review states. ``Because (Konoa) was not doing this and because (Konoa) appeared to Gold to be reaching for a handgun, Gold feared for his life, so he fired two shots."
A District Attorney's Office statement read, "The loss of this young person's life is devastating. Our extensive review of the totality of the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident lead us to the conclusion that criminal charges against Gold could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
"We are not able to make a determination that Gold's actions were justified, rather we have determined the evidence does not demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that Gold's belief was unreasonable.''
Last year, when the $30 million settlement was announced, Nick Rowley, an attorney representing the boy's family called the shooting "a catastrophic failure of policing. A 16-year-old boy was running for his life. He was not a threat and not a suspect, yet he was shot in the back by a police officer who only saw him for one second before deciding to pull the trigger.''
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