SAN DIEGO — The San Diego City Council on Tuesday agreed to pay $30 million to the family of a 16-year-old killed by police in one of the largest settlements of its kind in the United States.
The settlement exceeds the $27 million the city of Minneapolis agreed to pay to the family of George Floyd, whose May 2020 killing by a police officer who knelt on his neck sparked a nationwide racial reckoning.
Surveillance and body-worn camera footage from Jan. 28 showed Conoa Wilson running away from someone who pulled a gun and shot him at a downtown train station. While exiting the station, Wilson met San Diego Police Officer Daniel Gould.
In the lawsuit filed against City and Gould, the family alleged that the officer “immediately, and without any warning,” fired two shots at Wilson as he passed, hitting him in the upper body. The lawsuit identified Wilson as black.
Councilman Henry Foster became emotional as he spoke about the settlement, sharing his concerns about his son and the dangers some young black men face.
“Kanoa’s life was taken while he was fleeing gunshots, and he found himself running into the arms of a police officer. This should not have happened,” Foster said, asking since Floyd’s killing, “Where is the progress? Where is the protection and service? And better yet, where is the accountability?”
Gould is currently on administrative duty while the shooting is investigated, said Lt. Cesar Jimenez, a spokesman for the San Diego Police Department.