Javier Campos III, the 23-year-old suspect in the Mission District mass shooting that left nine victims wounded in June, has been charged with a raft of crimes, including assault with a semi-automatic weapon and unlawful firearm possession, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins announced today.
He was originally scheduled for an arraignment Friday afternoon, but his hearing was postponed to Wednesday. Prosecutors will ask that he remain in custody as a potential public-safety risk, the DA’s statement said. If convicted on all charges, he will face a lifetime in state prison.
Nine people were shot on June 9 just after 9 p.m. when a Mercedes-Benz allegedly carrying Campos drove by an outdoor party on the corner of 24th Street and Treat Avenue. Campos allegedly unloaded into the crowd, gathered to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the Dying Breed skate shop on the corner, spraying wildly and leaving people with life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses described crowd members making tourniquets out of T-shirts and holding the wounded after the shooting. Two people chased after the Mercedes-Benz, witnesses said. Most of the victims were young, in their 20s and early 30s.
In the days after the shooting, Campos seemingly bragged about a similar crime online: An account, since deleted, matching Campos’ face and stage name posted, “Ima make sure them n**** neva post up on that block again” to the tune of the song “Murder Alley.” That account featured Campos rapping in several music videos, including one in which he is sitting in a Mercedes-Benz like that used in the shooting.
Campos was arrested days after the shooting, on June 14, in Santa Cruz. He had several outstanding warrants across the Bay Area, including one for a January 23 homicide in Oakland that left an 18-year-old dead.
Campos has a long history in the criminal justice system, including charges for carjacking, robbery, assault and illegal firearm possession, including possession of a “ghost gun.”
He has a history of family tragedy, too: His father and step-brother were killed within months of each other when Campos was just 12. His father, a Mission native nicknamed “Baby Face,” was shot dead just 11 days after being released from prison.
Campos referenced both deaths in his music, rapping “Long live goon and long live pops / Long live Boo / Play with they name we gon’ make another body drop” in one song. His step-brother’s nickname was “Boo,” and his social media handles referenced “Boo gang.”
Though Campos was a resident of Richmond, he frequently spent time in the Mission and filmed music videos in the neighborhood, including near the intersection where his step-brother was shot and killed, 16th and Valencia streets.
Campos will be charged with the following crimes: One count of discharging a firearm from a vehicle and causing great bodily injury, eight counts of assault with a semi-automatic weapon and causing great bodily injury, and three counts of unlawful firearm possession. The District Attorney’s Office is also alleging that Campos conducted the shooting on behalf of a “street gang.”
Ya know, I’m just not quite sure that there is enough here to charge him./S
POC seems to always been targeted by the police and courts for shootings in the Mission District. I know POC aren’t doing the crimes. Did this man really shoot many people with a long rifle???
Yes yes yes he did. The vast majority of the shootings or stabbing in the Mission are committed by POC. Cold hard facts. IF random white men were doing it against POC then Mission Local, SF Chron and City Hall would be on it 24/7.