No Charges Filed Against Police Officers In 2018 Death

HAYWARD, CA —After a 21-month investigation, the Alameda County District Attorney's Office said no criminal charges were warranted against Hayward police in a fatal 2018 shooting.

The decision upheld a 2019 finding by District Attorney Pamela Price's predecessor that cleared police officers Phillip Wooley and Michael Clark of any wrongdoing in the killing of Agustin Gonsalez.

Price announced in January 2023 that her office was forming a new office, the Public Accountability Unit, to reopen the cases of eight deaths involving law enforcement, including Gonsalez's.

"The PAU has concluded that neither Officer Wooley nor Officer Clark can be held criminally liable for their actions," the district attorney's office said Friday in a press release.

"Applying the applicable laws to the pertinent facts, our team does not believe that the prosecution could prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the shots fired by Officer Wooley, or the shots fired by Officer Clark were not fired in lawful self-defense."

The formation of the Public Accountability Unit followed Price's promises during her campaign that led to her election in November 2022.

"I promised accountability," Price said at the time. "This unit and its work are the start of the reckoning Alameda County has asked for holding people accountable for their misconduct."

Price, the first Black woman to hold the county's top prosecutor job, is the target of a recall effort alleging that her progressive reform platform was too soft on criminals and led to increasing crime. She is the first district attorney in the county's history to face a recall.

Gonsalez, 29, of Lathrop, was shot dead Nov. 15, 2018, by Hayward police responding to a report of a man brandishing a knife in the 24600 block of Oneil Avenue.

When three officers arrived at the scene they found Gonsalez standing in the street, according to police.

One officer got out of his car and from a distance of about 10 to 15 feet ordered Gonsalez to drop the object in his hand, police said. The officer repeated those orders as Gonsalez approached him while holding an object in his right hand.

Two officers fired their guns multiple times when Gonsalez continued to approach the officer at an unsafe distance, according to police.

Once Gonsalez was detained, the officers were able to determine that the object in his hand was a razor blade rather than a knife, as had been initially reported in a 911 call, police said.

Gonsalez was treated at the scene and taken to a hospital where he died.

The Hayward City Council approved a $3.3 million settlement with Gonsalez's family in March 2021.

"The PAU thoroughly reviewed all of the facts and materials that had been considered by the prior administration's Officer Involved Shooting Team, including but not limited to all body-worn camera footage, investigative reports, civilian witness statements, and dispatch recordings," according to Price's office.

The unit also reviewed deposition testimony given by Wooley in the civil case against the City of Hayward and retained Ian Adams, an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina, to advise in the case.

The PAU said its inquiry explored how the tactical decisions made by the officers may have impacted the situation might have escalated the situation.

Price, in a letter to Hayward Police Chief Bryan Matthews, said tactical failures by the officers in the shooting, and training by the Hayward Police Department, "may have contributed" to Gonsalez's death and "are important to consider to prevent future tragedies from happening in Hayward and potentially, all of Alameda County."

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