SAN FRANCISCO — A 23-year-old Richmond man is facing criminal charges in connection with a mass shooting earlier this year in San Francisco, prosecutors said.
Nine people were injured in the shooting, which happened shortly after 9 p.m. on June 9 at 24th Street and Treat Avenue in the city’s Mission District neighborhood.
Javier Campos, the defendant, is charged with one count of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and causing great bodily injury, eight counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and causing great bodily injury, and three counts of unlawful firearm possession, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.
The criminal complaint also alleges the crimes were committed to benefit a criminal street gang and that Campos committed the crimes while released on bail in another case.
Campos was set to be arraigned on the charges Friday afternoon at the Hall of Justice. Prosecutors were also expected to file a motion to detain him pending trial.
If convicted of all charges and all allegations are found to be true, Campos faces life in state prison, according to the district attorney’s office.
“The Mission District shooting was horrifying and once again demonstrates the horrors of gun violence,” District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. “My office will continue to prosecute these types of acts to the fullest extent. Brazen shootings like this one exact a heavy toll on our neighborhoods and communities.”
Officers found multiple victims suffering from gunshot wounds when they arrived at the scene. Medical personnel were summoned to the scene to treat and transport the victims to a hospital.
Campos was arrested June 14 following a police pursuit from Watsonville to Soquel. The Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office charged him with evading an officer with disregard for public safety, being a felon in possession of a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and carrying an unregistered loaded firearm in a vehicle.
Jurors in mid-September returned guilty verdicts in the case.
Authorities have also identified Campos as a suspect in another mass shooting that happened on Jan. 23 at a Valero gas station at Seminary Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard in East Oakland. An 18-year-old man was killed and six others were injured.
Although charges have been filed in the San Francisco case, the investigation into the shooting is continuing. Anyone with information can contact the San Francisco Police Department tip line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with SFPD.
Check back for updates.
Source: www.mercurynews.com