Officer in North Beach shooting was cleared of killing teen in 2012
A San Francisco police officer who shot a fleeing suspect on a busy North Beach sidewalk June 9 was found to be justified in fatally shooting a 15-year-old boy in 2012.
Joshua Cabillo, a five-year San Francisco Police Department veteran assigned to the Field Operations Bureau, was identified Tuesday night by San Francisco police as the officer who shot Oliver Barcenas, 28, sending him to the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The tense exchange between Cabillo and Barcenas prior to the shooting was caught on recently released body-worn camera video.
Footage shows Cabillo and another uniformed officer approach a group of four men they believed were drinking alcohol at Grant Avenue and Vallejo Street, according to police.
Cabillo is heard telling the group of men that “no one is going anywhere” before Barcenas darts away and runs down Grant.
The officer runs after Barcenas, pushing past pedestrians on the sidewalk, and fires at
least two shots into Barcenas’ back after police say he drew a .45-caliber Glock pistol with a laser sight and an extended clip with 26 rounds.
A crowd of yelling pedestrians circled Cabillo as Barcenas lay motionless on the concrete.
He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where hospital officials said he was being treated as recently as Thursday. His condition was unknown.
Barcenas was arrested on suspicion of delaying an officer, carrying a concealed firearm, exhibiting a firearm and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
It was the second time Barcenas was shot by San Francisco police. He was shot after being accused of pulling a Tec-9 assault pistol on current Assistant Chief Toney Chaplin in the Mission District in 2012.
Cabillo remains on administrative leave, in accordance with department policy, police said.
He was previously found to be justified in using lethal force when, as a member of the South San Francisco police force, he shot and killed a teenage boy who allegedly pulled a gun during a struggle in June 2012. After an investigation, the gun was revealed to be inoperable.
Cabillo approached 15-yearold Derrick Gaines of San Bruno after a passerby reported that the boy and a companion were acting suspiciously, police said at the time.
When he told the pair to sit down, they fled, police said.
Cabillo knocked Gaines to the ground. He told investigating officers that Gaines reached for a pistol that dropped to the ground during the struggle, prompting him to shoot the teenager in the neck.
Gaines died at San Francisco General Hospital.
The city of South San Francisco settled a civil suit filed by Gaines’ parents and agreed to pay the family $250,000, without admitting wrongdoing.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit against Cabillo and other San Francisco police officers in 2015 on behalf of a 23-year-old man who said police assaulted him. The city settled that suit for $40,000 without admitting any wrongdoing.
The North Beach shooting is being investigated by the San Francisco Police Department Homicide Detail and Internal Affairs Division, the S.F. district attorney and the Department of Police Accountability.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting may contact the San Francisco Police Department 24-hour tip line at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411, beginning the text message with “SFPD.”