By Michael Phillips | CABayNews
On Tuesday, December 9, the San Diego City Council quietly did something that should make every resident stop and take notice: it approved a $30 million payment to the family of 16-year-old Konoa Steven Wilson, who was shot in the back and killed by San Diego Police Officer Daniel Gold on January 28, 2025, outside the Santa Fe Depot downtown. AP News+1
The money will come out of the city’s Public Liability Fund—not from police brass or elected officials, but from San Diego taxpayers. It is one of the largest police-misconduct settlements in American history, surpassing the $27 million Minneapolis paid to George Floyd’s family in 2021. AP News+2Axios+2
For concerned residents across California, this is more than a tragic local story. It’s a stress test of everything we were told had changed after 2020: use-of-force rules, de-escalation training, racial-bias reforms, and public oversight.
Right now, the payout is huge. The accountability is not.
What Happened on January 28
Surveillance and body-worn camera footage, released by SDPD in February, shows a chaotic and terrifying sequence.SanDiegoVille+1
- Around 9 p.m., at the Santa Fe Depot train station, another 16-year-old pulled a gun and fired multiple shots at Konoa Wilson on the platform.
- The shots missed, and Wilson ran—trying to escape the gunfire.
- As he fled out of the station and onto Kettner Boulevard, he crossed paths with Officer Daniel Gold, who was already running toward the sound of the shots on an unrelated call.
- In less than a second, Gold fired two rounds at Wilson’s upper body, striking him in the back. There was no audible warning, no “Police—drop the weapon,” no commands before the shots. Gold only identified himself as “San Diego Police” after Wilson collapsed on the pavement. AP News+2AP News+2
- Wilson was transported to UC San Diego Health and pronounced dead within the hour.
A handgun was later found hidden under Wilson’s clothing. According to the family’s attorney, it was never fired or pointed at officers; Wilson carried it after being previously assaulted in a gang-related incident and feared for his safety. AP News+2The Guardian+2
The actual shooter, the teen who fired at Wilson on the platform, was arrested about a week later and faces charges in juvenile court. NBC 7 San Diego+1
Yet it was the unarmed boy running for his life—the one fleeing the gunman—who died at the hands of police.
The Lawsuit and the Record-Setting Settlement
In June, Wilson’s parents filed a wrongful-death and civil-rights lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court against the City of San Diego and Officer Gold. They alleged: AP News+2KPBS Public Media+2
- Excessive and unreasonable force under the Fourth Amendment.
- That Gold acted with “racial violence” and perceived Wilson as a threat primarily because he was Black.
- That SDPD failed to properly train officers on de-escalation, fleeing-suspect scenarios, and racial bias.
After mediation, the city attorney’s office agreed to a $30 million settlement, funded from the Public Liability Fund. On December 9, the City Council voted to finalize the deal. AP News+2AP News+2
As is standard, the settlement includes no admission of liability by the city or Officer Gold. But the size of the payout speaks volumes. Cities do not write $30 million checks because everything was done right.
Family attorney Nicholas Rowley put it bluntly:
You have a 16-year-old kid who is running away from danger, doesn’t know he’s running towards the police, and there’s a police officer that shoots him in the back. AP News+1
He has said that if the case had gone to trial, they would have sought at least $100 million before a jury.
City Hall’s Statements—and a Father’s Fear
City leaders tried to strike a careful tone: sympathetic to the family, supportive of police, and forward-looking.
Mayor Todd Gloria offered condolences and stressed training and “split-second” decision-making: AP News+1
San Diegans expect a city that values life, supports its officers, and learns from tragedy. Those commitments must coexist—and that’s how we keep our city safe and united.
But the most powerful words came from Councilmember Henry Foster III, who represents much of southeast San Diego and spoke as a Black father as well as an elected official: Times of San Diego+2NBC 7 San Diego+2
Konoa’s life was taken while fleeing from gunshots, and he found himself running into the arms of a police officer. This should not have happened.
If only you could understand the fear I feel when my son leaves the house… Where’s the progress? Where’s the ‘protect and serve’? Better yet, where’s the accountability?
Those questions hang over this case—and over San Diego’s broader record. The city has spent over $100 million on police-misconduct payouts over the last decade, and yet the same patterns keep reappearing: young men of color, back-shots, body-cam footage, “split-second decisions,” and long, opaque investigations. Axios+1
What We Still Don’t Know
For all the headlines about the $30 million figure, there are major unresolved questions that every concerned citizen should be asking.
1. Why was a relatively inexperienced officer in a position where “fire first” was the outcome?
News reports describe Gold as a roughly two-year SDPD officer, assigned to Central Division patrol. Police1+1
We still do not know:
- How much live, scenario-based training he had for active-shooter situations in crowded public spaces like transit hubs.
- Whether SDPD policy clearly requires officers to visibly confirm a threat and issue a warning before firing on someone who is running away.
- Whether supervisors reviewed his history for prior high-stress incidents or “near misses.”
If the city is going to cut a check this large, taxpayers deserve a full accounting of what in SDPD’s training pipeline failed, not just a vague promise to “learn from tragedy.”
2. Why are the investigations dragging while the civil case is already done?
Nearly a year after the shooting:
- The San Diego County District Attorney is still “reviewing” the case for possible criminal charges. AP News+2Axios+2
- The FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office reportedly continue to evaluate potential civil-rights violations. AP News+1
- SDPD’s internal-affairs process is ongoing; Gold remains on paid administrative assignment, not back on patrol. AP News+2NBC 7 San Diego+2
The civil side moved quickly—because San Diego knew a jury might award even more. But the criminal and internal accountability side is moving slowly, behind closed doors.
Families across the country have seen this pattern before: Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, and others whose cases sat in limbo for months or years. And in California, delayed decisions feed the belief that officers are treated differently than ordinary citizens when lethal mistakes are made. Brookings+1
3. How does this fit into California’s broader racial-disparity problem?
California’s own Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory (RIPA) Board found earlier this year that Black Californians are stopped, searched—and subjected to force—at significantly higher rates than white residents, especially among youth. San Francisco Chronicle
Nationally, a ProPublica analysis has shown that Black boys aged 15–19 were 21 times more likely than white boys the same age to be killed by police in the early 2010s—a disparity that has barely budged in the decade since. ProPublica+1
Konoa Wilson’s case isn’t an isolated “tragic mistake.” It sits on top of a mountain of data that says Black teens are far more likely to be perceived as threats, even when they are the ones running away from danger.
The Human Cost Behind the Dollar Amount
Most mainstream stories have quoted a single line: Wilson was “an only child who loved the ocean and going barefoot at the beach with his father.” KOB.com+1
Behind that line is a devastated family:
- Parents who will never watch their son graduate, learn to drive, or start a family.
- A community—Logan Heights and the Bayside Community School—already grappling with gang violence, now living with the message that even when you run from danger, you might not be safe when the police arrive. KPBS Public Media+1
The settlement may pay for counseling, college funds for relatives, or future advocacy work. But as the family’s attorney put it, money “doesn’t restore their son.” NBC 7 San Diego+1
For San Diego Taxpayers, This Isn’t Just About One Officer
When a city writes a $30 million check, it’s easy to focus on the frontline cop and the grieving family. But this case shines a light on policy failures up the chain:
- Training and Policy – Did SDPD’s guidance for active-shooter responses and fleeing suspects set this up? Did it emphasize preserving life—all life—over neutralizing any moving figure near the scene?
- Supervision – Who decided which officers covered high-risk downtown locations? Were less-experienced officers paired with veterans, or left solo in complex environments?
- Oversight – Why does the public only see body-cam footage in carefully edited releases instead of independent reviews?
San Diego has also just approved continued use of Flock license-plate scanners and other surveillance tools, with strong backing from SDPD leadership. Axios The message is clear: the city is willing to invest heavily in technology and pay dearly for mistakes, but residents still lack clear proof that culture and training are keeping up.
What Concerned Citizens Should Demand Next
For readers of CABayNews and San Diegans who care about both public safety and civil rights, the path forward isn’t slogans—it’s specifics.
Here are concrete steps this case should force onto the table:
- Full Public Briefing on Policy Failures
- The Mayor, Police Chief, and City Attorney should hold a detailed public briefing—not just about the settlement, but about what exactly went wrong in training and supervision and what will change, with timelines.
- Independent Review of Use-of-Force Incidents Involving Youth
- An independent auditor (not SDPD) should review every SDPD shooting or serious force case involving minors over the past 10 years, with a public report on patterns by race, neighborhood, and officer tenure.
- Stronger AB 392 Implementation and Fleeing-Suspect Rules
- California’s reformed use-of-force law already demands that deadly force be “necessary” and that de-escalation be attempted where possible. San Diego should adopt stricter local rules on shooting fleeing suspects—especially when the officer has not clearly identified a visible, immediate threat. PNAS+1
- Faster, Transparent Investigations
- The DA and federal agencies should commit to clear timelines for charging decisions in police-involved deaths and publish regular public updates instead of leaving families and communities in the dark for a year or more.
- Public Accounting of Police-Misconduct Costs
- The city should publish an annual “Police Settlement Ledger” showing how much has been paid out, in which kinds of cases, and which reforms were implemented—or not—after each major payout.
Why This Matters Far Beyond San Diego
If a 16-year-old can be killed while running away from someone else’s gun—and the only immediate consequence is a massive check from taxpayers—then the system is sending a dangerous message:
- To families of color: We still see your children as threats first, victims second.
- To officers: If you make the wrong split-second call, the city will pay; you may never face a jury.
- To the public: You’ll pay the bill, but you may never get the full truth.
Five years after George Floyd, we were promised a new era of “guardrails” on police power. The death of Konoa Wilson and this $30 million settlement are a test of whether those promises meant anything in California’s second-largest city.
Right now, the numbers say one thing: the guardrails failed. The question for San Diego—and for the rest of the state—is whether this tragedy finally forces real change, or becomes just another line item in a very expensive ledger of avoidable deaths.
California Bay News 
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