The mother of 26-year-old Oakland resident O’Shaine Evans, who was shot and killed by undercover San Francisco police officers near AT&T Park last October, filed a claim for damages today asserting that the San Francisco Police Department led to the wrongful death of her son.
San Francisco police, however, have said that six-year veteran Officer David Goff fatally shot and killed Evans near AT&T Park on Oct. 7 in defense of his life and the lives of others.
According to police, while assigned to monitor the area around the ballpark as the San Francisco Giants’ playoff game wound down around 9 p.m. that night, Goff and fellow officers allegedly noticed a suspicious car that appeared to be casing other vehicles.
Officers saw suspects exit the car and break into a Mercedes SUV parked on Jack London Alley near Bryant Street, police said.
According to police, officers approached the suspect car and noticed that the driver, later identified as Evans, allegedly had a handgun.
Police said one of the officers ordered Evans to drop the gun but he refused and Goff then shot Evans, allegedly fearing for his life and the lives of fellow officers.
Police also shot and injured the vehicle’s rear passenger, identified as a 28-year-old San Leandro resident.
Evans was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died from his injuries, police said.
The vehicle’s front passenger, identified as Steven Oliver Moore, 25, of Oakland, was arrested on Bryant Street as he attempted to flee on foot.
Officers located a gun that was allegedly in Evans’ possession at the scene, as well as a variety of items stolen from the Mercedes, police said.
Police said the firearm was reportedly stolen out of New York.
Goff was placed on a 10-day administrative leave following the shooting, which is standard procedure after an officer-involved shooting, according to police.
Evans’ family and their attorney give a different account of the last moments of Evans’ life.
Attorney James P. Segall-Gutierrez said witnesses reported that Evans had his hands on the car’s steering wheel when he was shot and that he did not pose an immediate threat to the police officers.
This morning, family and friends accompanied Evans’ mother Angela Naggie and her attorney to file a claim for damages at San Francisco City Hall.
The group then marched with anti-police brutality activists to the San Francisco Police Department’s administrative offices at the Hall of Justice, where they delivered the claim to the Police Department.
Segall-Gutierrez said he plans to file a lawsuit for several million dollars against the city of San Francisco and the Police Department based on the claim that Evans’ civil rights were violated the night he was shot and killed by police.
Segall-Gutierrez said the shooting “was excessive, unreasonable and a violation of Evans’ rights,” and that it led to emotional distress for his mother as well as medical expenses, attorney fees, punitive damages, loss of income and general damages.
He said police are “out of control” and officers need to follow department policies. He said he is demanding a jury trial to determine specific amounts to be awarded to Evans’ mother.
Naggie said officers in civilian clothing approached her son before fatally shooting him and said she still doesn’t understand why they weren’t in uniform.
Naggie said her son’s case is similar to one that just occurred earlier this month, resulting in the death 24-year-old San Francisco resident Alice Brown.
In that incident on March 17, plainclothes San Francisco police officers fatally shot Brown after she went on a driving rampage near the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Pine Street.
In the days after the shooting of her son, Naggie said that she believed the shooting was the result of racial bias on the part of officers.
Hannah Albarazi, Bay City News
