The proposal follows the fatal Jan. 28 shooting of 16-year-old Konoa Wilson at the Santa Fe Depot downtown.
SAN DIEGO — San Diego officials will consider a $30 million settlement Tuesday with the family of Konoa Wilson, a 16-year-old Black teen fatally shot by a police officer in January at the city’s Santa Fe Depot, a payout that would rank among the largest in a police-killing case.
The proposed agreement, placed on the City Council’s Dec. 9 agenda, arrives 10 months after body camera and surveillance footage showed Wilson running from gunfire at the downtown train station when he encountered Officer Daniel Gold. The rookie officer fired two rounds, striking the teen in the back, before identifying himself as police, according to records cited by the family’s attorneys. City lawyers negotiated the settlement in recent days as outside reviews continue and as the case drew national attention for its size and speed.
On Jan. 28, shortly after 8 p.m., shots rang out near platforms at the Santa Fe Depot, sending commuters scrambling behind pillars and benches. Video from the scene shows Wilson sprinting away from an unseen gunman toward a pedestrian area when he crossed paths with Gold. Within about a second of that encounter, Gold fired two shots, attorneys for the family said, and announced “police” only afterward. Wilson collapsed and was taken to a hospital, where he died less than an hour later. “What happened to Konoa was a catastrophic failure of policing,” said Nicholas Rowley, an attorney for the Wilson family. “A 16-year-old boy was running for his life.”
Officials say Wilson had a handgun on him when he was searched at the hospital, though investigators have not indicated that he fired it or pointed it at officers. San Diego Police Department leaders placed Gold on administrative assignment pending the reviews required after a deadly use of force. City Attorney Mara Elliott’s office moved the settlement to the Council docket after closed-session discussions, describing it as a step to resolve litigation over civil rights and wrongful death claims. The $30 million would come from the city’s public liability fund, according to the agenda summary. The department has not released Gold’s length of service beyond confirming he was new to patrol at the time. Several key details remain unknown publicly, including the identity of the original shooter at the depot and findings from internal ballistics testing.
The case landed during a period of scrutiny over officer-involved shootings and large municipal payouts. In 2021, Minneapolis approved $27 million to settle with the family of George Floyd; San Diego’s proposal would exceed that figure and rank among the highest known settlements for a police killing. Locally, the Santa Fe Depot is a major regional rail hub bordered by office towers, hotels and a waterfront promenade, often crowded in the evening. Transit cameras and private security feeds captured portions of the Jan. 28 incident, providing investigators with multiple vantage points as they tracked the sequence from the initial gunfire to the police encounter with Wilson. Advocates have pointed to the footage as evidence of a rapid misidentification, while police unions have stressed the chaos of an active gunfight near commuters.
Legally, the settlement would resolve the family’s federal claims if the Council approves it, closing the civil case without a trial. Tuesday’s vote will likely be followed by a public summary from the City Attorney and a status update from the Police Department on administrative steps. Gold’s duty status would remain subject to the outcome of the department’s internal affairs review and any determination by the county district attorney on criminal liability, timelines that were not specified ahead of the meeting. Under city procedures, payouts of this size require an open-session vote and, once finalized, processing from the public liability fund with a subsequent budget report to the Council’s budget committee early next year.
Outside City Hall over the weekend, small groups left flowers and handwritten notes near the depot entrance. Commuter Brian Alvarez said he rides through the station nightly and remembers the panic that January evening: “People were hitting the ground and hiding. It was seconds. Then sirens.” At a brief news conference, a family spokesperson thanked residents who offered condolences and asked that Wilson be remembered as a student and son. Community organizers who gathered near the plaza spoke in turn about the size of the settlement and the unanswered questions about training and supervision. “This vote won’t end the pain,” said longtime resident Monique Harris, “but it shows the city recognizes something went terribly wrong.”
As of Monday afternoon, the agenda item remained set for Tuesday morning’s session. If the Council approves the agreement, attorneys expect paperwork to be executed within days and a court notice of settlement to follow. Reviews by the police department and the district attorney’s office are still in progress, and officials have not given a date for their conclusions. For now, the case sits at a pivotal step: a public vote on a record-setting payout and a community waiting to see what the investigations find next.
Author note: Last updated December 8, 2025.