US District Court dismisses Charles Hill lawsuit

On July 3, 2011, a BART Police Officer responded to a service call at Civic Center Station, which evolved into the police-involved shooting death of Charles Hill after Hill threw a knife at the Officer on the busy station platform. A loss of life is a tragedy in any circumstance; however, on February 22, 2012, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon concluded that the officer "acted lawfully in self-defense" when he fatally shot Hill. In a subsequent action, relatives of Charles Hill filed a wrongful death lawsuit against BART.

On September 18, 2013, the United States District Court dismissed the wrongful death lawsuit. The Court found that Hill in fact threw a knife at the officer and the officer reasonably believed he was being threatened.