A judge today found probable cause that Javier Campos, the man accused of shooting nine people at a Mission District block party in June, committed all 12 of the crimes he has been charged with, opening the door for the case to head to trial.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ross, who has overseen four days of Campos’ preliminary hearing, also ruled that he found “abundant evidence” of Campos’ gang involvement with the 16th Street clique of the Sureño street gang.
Campos is accused of spraying the 24th Street and Treat Avenue corner with bullets on June 9 before fleeing. He was arrested a few days later in Santa Cruz, on several other warrants.
But Public Defender Seth Meisels said a different individual may have committed the shooting and disputed the gang allegations, which he called a case of “guilt by association.”
“Javier Campos is not a gang member, and did not commit this shooting,” Meisels told Mission Local after the hearing. “The prosecution has evidence that a different person committed this crime, but we will have to wait until trial to address it.”
Campos was charged with eight counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm causing great bodily injury, with gang enhancements, as well as charges for discharging a firearm from a car, possession of ammunition, and possession of a loaded firearm.
A final police witness presented by the District Attorney’s Office today said that Campos’ cell phone was determined to be near the location of the shooting at the time it happened: Around 9:05 p.m. on June 9, 2023.
Shortly after, Campos’ phone was triangulated near locations where a gray Mercedes-Benz — which Campos had been seen driving — was spotted on surveillance cameras.
“I believe that the device was in the immediate area of the shooting, and that the device fled with the vehicle as it fled the scene,” said Officer Kevin Downs of the SFPD, who testified as an expert in cell phone-tracking processes.
Later on the night on June 9, Campos’ phone pinged cell towers from a location in the city of Richmond, where the Mercedes-Benz was later located. Earlier in this week’s hearing, investigators testified that a bullet casing matching those from the scene of the shooting were found inside that car.
Though Meisels said much of the evidence presented is circumstantial, and failed to link Campos directly to the shooting, Judge Ross found sufficient circumstantial evidence to hold Campos to answer on the charges.
“Each one of these links in the chain directly connect Mr. Campos to the shooting,” Ross said.
Instagram records show that Campos’ apparent personal account bragged shortly afterward: “Ima make sure them n**** neva post up on that block again.”
The area of the shooting is claimed by Norteño groups, rivals of the Sureños, as their territory. Witnesses presented by the prosecution yesterday detailed encounters with Campos and his associates who are known Sureño gang members.
“The suggestion that this particular offense was gang-related is circumstantial to the point of being speculative. As we heard, none of the victims were in any way affiliated with any gang,” Meisels said in court. “The crime here is obviously very serious. What the people have failed to demonstrate is that Mr. Campos committed it, or that it was a gang-related offense.”
Campos sat silently through the multi-day hearing, but waived his right to appear this afternoon, and left the courtroom before the judge’s ruling.
Campos will be re-arraigned on his charges next week.
Absolutely incredible reporting from ML and Eleni Balakrishnan. Thank you for staying on top of this case, as it is probably one of the most important for people in the Mission and the city at large.
I do have one minor request… can ML stop using his rap photos? Campos undoubtedly hoped to game fame and notoriety from his crimes. He is unworthy of such dignity.
Imagine how annoying it is as a public defender when your client raps about being a gang member and publicly confesses to a crime. Poor guy what is he supposed to do